Rufus adventure
by Rufus J ShinRa1
Summary: Rufus lose's his T.V. and starts a quest looking for it
1. Default Chapter Title

  
  
  
  
Rufus's little adventure  
  
  
  
  
  
[Shinra HQ]  
  
  
  
Rufus: [Goes into his room] AHHHHH!!!!  
  
Guard: President Rufus?  
  
Rufus: Th-Th-The Playstation and the T.V. are gone!!!  
  
Voice: President Rufus? President Rufus?  
  
Rufus: .....I dreamed the T.V. and playstation were gone.  
  
Guard: Oh it was no dream.  
  
Rufus: AHHHHHHH!!!!!! I can't sleep without a T.V.! Elena get in here!  
  
Elena: [Comes out of Rufus's bedroom wearing a T-shirt and cutoffs] Yes Rufie?  
  
Rufus: You'll adress me as Mr. President!  
  
Elena: Kay. But after last night-  
  
Rufus: SHUT THE HELL UP! Get back to kidnapping and murdering people! No wait...find my T.V.  
  
Elena: Find it yourself. I'm taking a vacation.  
  
Rufus: No wait! Was it the "Call me Mr. President" thing?  
  
Heidegger: SIR!  
  
Rufus: What?  
  
Heiddeger: I bought you a new T.V.!  
  
Rufus: I don't wanna new t.V. I want my T.V. CAN'T YOU UNDERSTAND THAT!!!!!!!!!!  
  
Heiddeger: Then instead of a playstation here's a N64.  
  
Rufus: [Cocks his shotgun]  
  
Heiddeger: ....or not.  
  
Rufus: I WILL FGIND MY PLAYSTATION WHATEVER IT TAKES!!!!1  
  
Reeve: While your at it could you get us a DVD?  
  
Rufus: Sure.  
  
  
[Yuffie's secret headquarters]  
  
  
Yuffie: Heeee heee I got Rufus's T.V. Now I can watch the Materia thieves channel I want!  
  
Voice: Yuffie!  
  
Yuffie: Heeee heeeee it's Reno.  
  
Reno: Did you take my boss's T.V.?  
  
Yuffie: No.  
  
Reno: Ok.  
  
Yuffie: Heeee heee what a loser.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Rufus: T.V.!!! Need it!  
  
Girl: Hey Prez wanna date?  
  
Rufus: Have you seen my T.V. or my Playstation?  
  
Girl: No....  
  
Rufus: Then your of no use for me you stupid slut!  
  
  
  
[Yuffie's house]  
  
  
Rufus: [Come's in with a red handmark on his cheek] I know you took my T.V. Yuffie!  
  
Yuffie: To late. Already sold it.  
  
Rufus: To who?  
  
Yuffie: Barret  
  
Rufus: What's his adress?  
  
Yuffie: 1400 Byatch ave.  
  
Rufus: I'M THERE!  
  
  
[Barret's house]  
  
  
Marlene: Daddy...That Dictator guy is here about his T.V...  
  
Barret: Well,well if it aint dat foo Dufus.  
  
Rufus: My name is Rufus.  
  
Barret: Rufus,Dufus whatever.  
  
Rufus: Gimmie my T.V. or I'll blow your brains out.  
  
Barret: You and what army?  
  
Rufus: The Shin-Ra army.  
  
Barret: .....That's a good army.  
  
Rufus: Give me the T.V....  
  
Barret: Aeris has it.  
  
Rufus: You sold it?  
  
Barret: Didn't have sattelite.  
  
Rufus: It had a playstation.  
  
Barret: No good games.  
  
Rufus: I had all the good games! I'm off to Aeris's house.  
  
  
  
[Aeris's house]  
  
  
Rufus: [Knocks down the door] GIVE ME MY T.V. BITCH!  
  
Aeris: Don't pull a Cid.  
  
Rufus: %&^%^^&*&*()^%#$#^%&()()^%$##%^&()((^^$@@@!@$%&!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  
  
Aeris: You just said a mouthfull.  
  
Rufus: Where's my T.V.?  
  
Aeris: Here it is. [Gives him a T.V. decorated with flowers]  
  
Rufus: Ahhhhh My T.V.! It's so... so.... girly.  
  
Aeris: I am a girl you know.  
  
Rufus: NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  
  
Aeris: But that's not your T.V.  
  
Rufus: Huh?  
  
Aeris: Hojo is using your T.V. for an experiment.  
  
Rufus: I'm there.  
  
Aeris: Want some cookie's?  
  
Rufus: ^%&* YES!  
  
  
[Hojo's lab]  
  
  
Hojo: I have all the ingredints...The ciggarete of Cid Highwind,The Spike of Cloud's hair,Tifa's tank top,Sephiroth's Masamun,Yuffie's stolen materia and RedXIII's flea's plus Rufus's T.V.= Super Materia!  
  
Rufus: Give me my T.V. you Grade A Psycho!  
  
Hojo: Your too late! In three minuites. [Ding] Oh the Pizza's done.  
  
Rufus: Darknation Maul him until he get's my T.V.  
  
Hojo: Sample H501 eat Darknation  
  
Darknation: [Run's way]  
  
Hojo: Heeee heeee I win.  
  
Rufus: Let's fight for the T.V.!  
  
Hojo: [Transforms into Hellectic Hojo] I have injected myself with Jenova! Here are my....  
  
Rufus: Yeah,Yeah!  
  
Hojo: I'll tear you to pieces! I'm a warrior!  
  
Rufus: [Simply shoot's him in the groin]  
  
Hojo: NOOOO!!!!! MY WEAK POINT! [Turns back to normal]  
  
Rufus: Now your a dickless warrior. [Takes the T.V.]  
  
  
  
  
[Rufus's room]  
  
  
Rufus: Now I can watch all the Married with children I want!  
  
T.V.: Married with Children has been canclled for Barney and Friends!  
  
Rufus: Mebbe I should just play the Playstation...  
  
  
  
THE END  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  



	2. Default Chapter Title

****

Childhood Friends

BY

Angie Gonzales

Dedicated to: 

Heather Gorlitz and Lynn Ash for their wild ideas and inspiration…And for the perverse pleasure I got by keeping them on the edge with suspense (Mwa, ha, ha! =^_^=)

A special thank you also goes to my love, David for encouraging me to do what I wanted to do so that I would be happy. Even during the hardest times of my life. =^_~=

I would also like to dedicate it to my mom for also letting me keeping her in suspense, even though she knows nothing about Final Fantasy 7 except for a few pictures that I showed her. It proved to me that you don't need to know the story of Final Fantasy 7 in order to enjoy this story.

And finally, this is dedicated to everyone who was picked on when they were young or being picked on now for stupid childish reasons.

Summary:

This story is a fanfict based from the story of a role-playing game made by Squaresoft called Final Fantasy 7. This story takes place many years earlier before the rebel team Avalanche started to bomb Makou reactors in the capital City of Midgar, and it is also many years before Cloud left Nibleheim at the young age of 14. This story is about Cloud at the age of 7, and Tifa at the age of 6. Surprisingly, Tifa plays a small part in this story, and the childhood friend that is refereed to in the title may be a surprise, while others may see is coming. But in the end, a friendship is quickly formed, and then broken by forces beyond their control with very violent consequences. It is a simple display of demonstrating on how unfair life can be.

Reviews:

"This is one of the long-lost fanfics which was lost when I deleted all my e-mails awhile ago. But, thankfully, I've found the fanfic and here it is!

This is a GREAT fanfic. It's mainly about Cloud when he was young. It's about when Cloud strikes a friendship with an unlikely person but then goes horribly wrong. And, amazingly, Tifa plays little part in the story :)

I suggest you read this fanfic as, in my opinion, it's one of the best-written fanfic you can find here." - Bramcote@btinternet.com website: http://fanficshq.virtualave.net/ J- Ultima's RPG Fanfic Haven. 

"FF7Aeris - Hi, I read your fanfic, Childhood Friends on Ultima's RPG Fanfic Haven and liked it a lot. I have a website called The Final Fantasy III and VII Domain and was wondering if I could use any of your fanfics. If this is alright with you, then please e-mail me back and just tell me which fanfic I can use. Thanks a lot!" -Valerie valerie785@hotmail.com website: http://www.geocities.com/hotshot_03  
  


Disclaimer: The characters, items, places, etc. of Final Fantasy VII are property of Squaresoft, Inc. No infringement is intended. 

He sat there looking out the window that provided a nice view of the well in the center of the small town that was named after the mountains that surrounded them: Nibleheim.

There was nothing unusual about today, it was as if the events from yesterday are merely replaying into an endless loop of boredom. It was natural, he thought, that everyone should do their part to keep this mindless cycle going. The boys would organize games of basketball; the girls would help around the house, or keep to themselves. Of course, things always got interesting when the occasional tomboy would try to play with the boys. The day would always start out by waking up early to do that dreaded chore known as school, and always ending with new experiences and thrills of today's activities that still danced in their heads as they drifted off to sleep.

That is, for everyone except him.

He never understood why his mother didn't trust the public schools in the area. Needless to say, he was in home schooling. His days were spent mindlessly working on homework, helping around the house, and for fun, he would play video games, while his mother would look for a reason to send him out to go to the store, or out to run errands- anything to get him out of the house.

Sometimes he would go out for his own reasons, but it was not to join the daily basketball game or to play something else. It was usually to help Mrs. Lockheart who was usually too ill to do housework, and whatever that she needed to do. There was an added incentive of earning 10 gil per day that he helped out Mrs. Lockheart, which also motivated him. The girl next door, Tifa was almost never there because she was helping her father run the family business, or she went out to play with the boys.

He was kind of hoping for the phone to ring, his mother would then pick it up, and finally tell him that he was needed next door, but instead, the phone was silent. His mother was preparing tonight's meal, as she hummed softly to herself.

He quietly diverted his attention back to his homework only to realize that he finished it sometime ago. He stood up while closing his book with a self-rewarding stretch and a victorious yawn. Now he was free to do whatever he pleased, the weekend was now here, he saved up 78 gil and was looking forward to have some fun.

"Hey Cloud," his mother spoke for the first time this afternoon. "Do you feel like going to the store?"

"Yeah, I'll go," he was planning to go there anyway.

A smile crept upon her lips. "Great! I've prepared a list of the things that I need," she handed him the list with some money.

Cloud quickly looked at the list: milk, eggs, bread, nothing unusual. He looked up, then smiled as if he was giving her the signal that he understood exactly what he had to do, and began to run happily towards the door.

"Oh, and by the way," she quickly said before Cloud could open the door. He stopped dead in his tracks and turned around to give her his full attention. "Go ahead and keep the change, and don't let those boys bother you. Just ignore them."

He looked at her blankly. "Sure." Then realized that he was just given more money. "Thanks!" He was smiling now. Whenever things go your way, it means that you were having a good day, and Cloud was enjoying himself.

With a nod and an even bigger smile, Cloud said his good-byes and ventured out doors. The bright afternoon sunlight that greeted him, left him momentarily blinded until his eyes adjusted to the bright light. The air was cool and pleasant. Though it was a little too cool for spring.

He looked around with his eyes that were now comfortable with the outdoor light, and started his walk across the basketball game now in progress. Actually, the boys stopped their game to argue with each other about a rule to see if it was fair or not. Among the group, he could recognize one of the boys. It was not hard to pinpoint the thin red-haired boy named Johnny. Like himself, Johnny had spikes in his hair, though not as many or as large as he had, but at least most of the other boys eased up when it came to poking fun at his hair. Cloud gave up a long time ago on trying to "fix" his hair because whenever he tried, it just got worse. His mother said that he got it from his father, but he never really knew his father and frankly got tired of asking his mother what he was like. In his mind, he felt like he knew him all along. Asking his mother about him was just simply a bitter reminder the he really was gone.

Cloud had wondered why his thoughts drifted in that direction when he noticed Tifa among the boys. She was holding the ball and was apparently bored. Couldn't blame her, what's so fun watching people argue anyway? Tifa was looking off into the distance when she saw Cloud and that he was watching her.

Tifa simply handed the ball over to Johnny, who accepted it without really thinking as Tifa began to approach Cloud. The polite thing to do was to meet her halfway and so Cloud changed direction to meet Tifa. Cloud saw from over Tifa's shoulder that Johnny walked away from the argument to make some practice shots at the hoop located on the side of the well facing Tifa's house. For a well, it was unusually high and there was a need to climb up a ladder to a platform to open the panels on top of the well to get the water. Of course, all of the houses now had indoor plumbing, so there was no need for the well. Now the main purpose of the well was to remind everyone of the long history of the town and to never forget where they came from. The basketball hoop just simply made the well even more useful.

"Hi Cloud, what's up?" Tifa said sweetly. That seemed to be the standard greeting to start a conversation with people who they didn't really know.

"Oh, not much. Just going to the store," Cloud said calmly. Not too many kids spoke to him just to be friendly so he was going to try to keep it simple.

Tifa saw the list in his hand. "Oh, that's nice. All of the other boys don't really help out like you do."

"It's no big deal," Cloud shrugged. "If I had a sister, it might be different, but it's just me and mom," Cloud looked around quickly to see if anyone was listening to their conservation. Then he got closer to Tifa with one hand on the side of his mouth like he was about to tell her a secret. "And just between you and me, sometimes I am absolutely sure that my mom wished that I was a girl."

Tifa laughed out loud then added, "As long as you don't start wearing dresses, I think that you'll be fine."

"I'll keep that in mind," Cloud giggled, then he cleared his throat. "But no really, most of the time I go to the store, I get to keep the change."

"Lucky!" Tifa said in a sarcastic pout.

There was an awkward moment of silence when Cloud realized that they ran out of stuff to talk about.

"So…How's your mom doing?" It was Cloud's turn to start a new conservation.

Tifa looked up and smiled. She was relived that there was more to talk about. "She's doing great!" She seemed to be pleased with the world when she made that statement. "The doctor said that her cancer was in intermission or something like that, and I've never seen her to be so happy."

"Do you know what type she had?" He was curious now.

"Umm, I'm not sure. Dad told me but I can't remember, but I think it has something to do with the-"

"Hey Tifa! Are you going to play with us or what?" A voice shouted from across the town plaza.

Cloud and Tifa looked to identify who it was that called Tifa. It was Devin, the biggest jerk in Nibleheim in Cloud's opinion.

"Well, are you coming or not?" Devin demanded.

"Yeah, I'll be there in a minute!" Tifa yelled back. Then she realized something. "Cloud! What time is it?" She seemed desperate.

Cloud thought about it for a moment. "Uh, the last time I checked, it was 5:50, so I guess that it's now about six…"

"Oh no, I'm late!" Tifa exclaimed and began to run home. Mrs. Lockheart was already waiting outside looking for Tifa when she realized that Tifa was talking to Cloud and waved hello to him.

Cloud waved back and figured that since Tifa's mom liked him, that maybe Tifa was off the hook. He watched Tifa hug her mother and then they disappeared into the house. It looks like that Tifa was off the hook after all.

Cloud turned to continue walking to the store when he realized that Tifa had forgotten to say good bye. He sighed with that thought and rechecked his list to remind himself that he was outside for a reason.

Cloud continued on his way when he saw an old man nod at him. Then he had a very bad feeling when he saw the old man look over him and frowned. 

He turned around only to find Devin and some of the other boys quickly approach him, but before Cloud could run, the wind was knocked out of him and his face met the stone laden ground. Devin was standing over him, very angry.

"I thought I told you to never talk to Tifa!" He shouted.

Cloud was beginning to get back up.

"Well, didn't I?" Devin yelled in clouds ear.

God he had bad breath! Cloud was up on his feet now, rubbing his chin, he had a strange salty metallic taste in his mouth. Being pushed on the ground was one thing, but biting your own tongue just made things worse.

"You can't tell me what to do," Cloud glared.

"I can do whatever the hell I want, I'm the mayor's son!" Devin got closer to Clouds' face. His bad breath was gnawing at Cloud.

"Even if it means not brushing your teeth?" Cloud waved his hand in his own face, trying to get rid of the bad odor and at the same time stressing "not."

Someone behind Devin snickered. It was Johnny. Devin spun around and shot a look at Johnny who fell silent, but couldn't help but smile when Devin turned his back to him.

Devin was back to Cloud and pushed him again. This time Cloud was ready and was already bracing himself. He only staggered back a few feet but didn't fall.

Cloud had just about had it, and wanted to fight back, though he was at a loss when it came to figuring out how.

"Is that all you can do? Bully people who are half your size?" Cloud was now yelling.

This seemed to amuse Devin. He half expected that the little pip-squeak would run home to mommy, crying all the way. Devin began to smile. It looks like time to put this little punk back in his place. He reached down and picked up Cloud by his shirt with both of his hands.

"So what?" Devin grinned.

So what? This guy is the biggest asshole that Cloud has ever met in his life! Cloud's weight was now completely supported by Devin's forearms, showing off his biceps. Cloud was still glaring into Devin's eyes. Then a sudden rage built up form inside Cloud as he blindly kicked Devin's gut as hard as he could.

Devin winced from the unexpected blow as well as jerked from the momentum. He felt his grip on Cloud's shirt begin to falter, his vision began to blur, and his stomach began to tie it self into a furious knot.

Cloud landed on his own two feet and then quickly jumped away before Devin could strike back.

There seemed to be a long drawn out moment of silence before Devin finally fell down into a crumpled heap on the ground. The whole town stopped what they were doing and was watching the fight from a distance.

Now Cloud was standing over Devin. "I just wish that you would leave me alone." He quietly said, almost whispering. Then turned to finish his walk to the store in a hurry.

The warmth inside of the item store engulfed him when he closed the door behind him. He could still hear the excitement from out side. The shopkeeper looked up and recognized Cloud. It didn't take much to figure out what happened.

This was the last thing that Cloud wanted! He finally managed to stay out of trouble long enough to get off restriction and now this…. It was not fair. Maybe there was a chance to stay out of trouble. After all, he started it. He was the one who was pushing and yelling. It was self-defense, and it was at least worth making a plea bargain for.

"Hey Cloud! You alright?" The shopkeeper asked loudly. Apparently this was not the first time that he asked.

Cloud looked around with wide eyes. He was still a little jumpy and the shopkeeper's voice startled him.

"Geez, are you alright?" The shopkeeper asked in a softer tone as he walked out from behind the counter and kneeled down beside Cloud to be at eye-level with him.

The shopkeeper looked at Cloud with kind eyes. He knew that it was Devin again, and so he tried to comfort him. The shopkeeper then studied Cloud's blue eyes and noted that they were becoming glossy and filling up with tears.

"I'm going to have a talk with that mayor of ours. There should be a law against 13 year old kids beating up other kids who are only 7!"

"I'm seven and a half, Joe," Cloud corrected the shopkeeper. Cloud rubbed his eyes. In a way, he was proud of himself for not crying.

"So sorry. I keep forgetting that you are getting older," Joe smiled and gave the young boy a reassuring hug. In a way, Joe adopted Cloud as his own son. To Cloud, he was like a father figure. Cloud even tried to play "matchmaker" with Joe and his mom.

"Uh, Joe, will there be a law about seven year old kids beating up thirteen year olds?" Cloud's voice wavered.

"Huh? What's that supposed to mean?" Joe pulled away from Cloud.

Cloud pointed at the door that led outside. Suddenly the voices from outside got louder. Joe stood up and looked out a nearby window. He did not expect to see Devin hanging his arm over his brother's shoulder and began to limp home.

"You did that?" Joe was really surprised. Cloud must have nailed Devin good.

Cloud couldn't contain his emotions anymore. Now Devin's brothers would surely try to beat him up, and why? Because Cloud kicked Devin and it hurt him badly and…wait. This was the first time he made a stand, and the first time that he had the last word. It was even the first time that he wasn't embarrassed in front of everyone. Fear, anxiety, excitement and andirline had reached its breaking point.

A sharp, abrupt sound came from Cloud's throat and his sides began to ache. Cloud couldn't believe it. He was laughing hysterically.

This was not quite the reaction that Joe expected. He said nothing, trying to figure out what to say next. Cloud was trying his best to stop laughing but failing miserably. Cloud clinched his sides harder as if he could contain the pain that was spreading all over. The list fell to the floor and Cloud suddenly found the ability to talk again.

"This is crazy!" Cloud rubbed his eyes again. His face was soaked with tears. So he cried anyway. "I can't believe that I did that!" Cloud's laughter was becoming more and more controllable.

"So are you going to be alright?" Joe asked.

Cloud nodded and at the same time he was concentrating on breathing normally. Joe picked up the list.

"Is this what you need?" Joe was reading that list.

Cloud again nodded.

"Well, I think that I can take care of it," Joe reached out for Cloud, then waved his hand to politely point over to the stove that served as the fireplace in the corner. "Here, why don't you sit by the fireplace over there. I kinda figured that you would stop by so I already made some hot chocolate for you."

That meant only one thing to Cloud. His eyes lit up. "You mean it's here?" Cloud was now excited and hopeful.

Joe smiled which told Cloud the answer, but Joe said it anyway. "Yup. It arrived this morning," Joe enjoyed watching Cloud become more and more hyper.

"But can you at lest sit down for a second and enjoy your hot chocolate?" Joe was trying to get Cloud to stay in one place.

It took a while for Cloud to calm down so he can enjoy the hot chocolate. Watching the flames dance in the stove seemed to sooth him even more. Joe soon returned with two bags full of the items that the list called for and gave Cloud the change. Cloud had just received 5 more gil to add to his savings.

"Now do you think that you can tell me what happened?" Joe sat next to Cloud, sipping on his own mug of hot chocolate.

Cloud told him basically what happened.

Joe nodded in comprehension, "I see. And you only hit him once?"

"Mm-hmm," Cloud made and affirmative sound.

"Well, good for you," Joe patted Cloud's back.

Cloud hated that. He was always was too rough and his back began to hurt.

"I'm glad to know that now you're finally standing up for yourself and fighting back, which reminds me," Joe reached for the floor to get something and handed Cloud a small box.

Cloud read the label. It was exactly what he was waiting for and he began to dig in his pockets for the money.

"How much did you say it was?" Cloud started to count his money.

"I think I said 80 gil," Joe recalled.

Cloud smiled to himself. He knew he had enough. Joe sat there and watched Cloud sort out his money. Joe thought about is for a moment, then made his decision.

"I'll tell you what, you give me 40 instead of 80, then that video game is yours."

"Really? You mean it?" Cloud was a little surprised.

"Well, your mom told me on how well you were doing with your studies and all of the other stuff. So yeah, I'll give it to you at half price," Joe was rationalizing his choice.

"Wow, thanks!" Cloud shoved the money into Joe's hands while at the same time shoving the rest of back in his pocket.

"Well, a deal is a deal. It's yours," Joe counted the money.

Cloud was still examining the box. The newest, coolest fighting game was now his. He had gotten bored with all of his other games, and he never really understood why those long one player games were interesting, so he didn't own any. He like the fighting games because they were good for venting out anger.

"I bet that you want to try it out," Joe made an assumption.

"You bet!" Cloud felt like it was Christmas.

"Well, its time for me to close, so I guess that it's time for you to go home now," Joe wanted Cloud to stay longer, but it was the truth.

Cloud remembered that it was getting late, "Right. Well, then, I'll see you tomorrow," Cloud stood up.

"Then do me a favor and tell me how good that game is," Joe picked up a bag and handed it to Cloud.

Cloud forgot about those bags, but pretended that he didn't. He put his new game in one of the bags and picked both of them up and made his way to the door. Joe opened the door for Cloud.

"Then, I'll see you tomorrow then. And you'll tell me about that game?" Joe asked.

Cloud was outside and the cold air bit into his skin, which sent a shiver up his spine.

"It's a promise," Cloud wanted to hurry home.

"Okay then, bye-bye!" Joe waved.

"Bye!" Cloud called over to him as he started to hurry home.

The town plaza was becoming deserted as the townspeople hurried into their homes for the night. Cloud was suiting conformity when he as well started to walk home as fast as he could. It was just simply too cold and all that Cloud was wearing was a T-shirt and shorts.

Then two dark figures suddenly appeared in front of him. There was still enough sunlight to identify them. It was Jonas and Keith. Jonas is Devin's twin brother so he looked exactly like Devin with the exception that Jonas preferred to grow his hair long and tie it back into a ponytail while Devin liked crewcuts. Keith was their younger brother. Keith is only nine and was only slightly taller than Cloud.

"So you think your tough now for kicking Devin in the family jewels like that, huh?" Keith demanded and tried to get closer to Cloud. However, Jonas was holding Keith back by his shirt.

"You don't want to get in trouble like Devin did," Jonas reminded his younger brother.

"But-," Keith started.

"I have a better idea," Jonas whispered to Keith.

Cloud heard that and hated the idea already.

"What do you want?" Cloud demanded, he was instantly getting angry again, which made him extremely arrogant. "You want to try and beat me up?" He put down his bags and made a stance, "Well?"

What am I doing? Cloud thought, I can't believe that I am actually picking a fight! You're going to get creamed, don't do it! It was like he was yelling at himself now.

Keith jumped forward, more than happy to take Cloud's offer only to yanked back by his shirt when Jonas tugged firmly on it. It was the same way that someone would do to a bad dog on a leash.

"That would be too easy," Jonas smiled, then add, "Besides, I don't want to get into trouble any way." For once, Jonas was telling the truth.

"So what is your 'idea' anyway?" It was clear to Cloud that whatever idea the Jonas had, it was meant as a revenge for what he did to Devin.

Jonas played innocent for a moment. "Well, let's see…" He liked the fact that Cloud was willing to listen to his idea and what was even more fun was the fact that Cloud just might do it. "Well," Jonas began, "you see that place over there?" Jonas pointed.

Cloud looked over to where Jonas pointed. "You mean the Shin-ra Mansion?" Cloud had a bad feeling again.

"Yep. You see, if you want to live after what you did to Devin, then you will have to spend the night there," Jonas announced.

"You're nuts! That place is haunted!" Cloud exclaimed. It was true, the Shin-ra Mansion truly was haunted. Some nights there were green lights that glowed through some of the windows. Or on some other nights there was the horrible sound of screams, but what was the scariest of all was that if someone would bother to look carefully, then they could see a ghost wonder around the yard. Or if someone looked through the windows then the ghost could sometimes be seen there, too. Legend has it that a long time ago there was a little boy who used to like to sneak inside and steal the money from the Shin-ra people who used to live there, but the poor kid was caught and then he was tortured to death. But since the Shin-ra people moved out, it was empty for a very long time, which didn't help matters.

Jonas giggled, "Don't tell me that you're going to be a chicken, aren't you?"

Jonas had already let go of Keith's shirt, who in turn, liked the idea and began to cluck like a chicken to annoy Cloud.

Cloud began to see a way out. "If I go, will you promise me to never bother me again, and to leave me alone?" 

"Well," Jonas was thinking now, "Okay, I promise," It was a lie.

"I don't believe you," Cloud stated.

"What? You don't trust me?" Jonas looked hurt, yeah right.

"That's right, so I want this in writing." Cloud was holding his ground.

"So if I sign a piece of paper, then you would do it?"

"That's it exactly."

"Fine," Jonas sighed and took off his backpack to get some paper, a pen and something hard to write on. Jonas began to write away.

"I, Jonas," he stated as he was writing.

"No. All three of you," Cloud declared.

Jonas looked at him. He knew what Cloud was up to and he honestly believed that Cloud couldn't do it. Nether the less, he was now having second thoughts.

"Alright…" Jonas tensed as he scratched his first words out and started again.

"We, Jonas Devin, and Keith…" Jonas stated as Cloud nodded in approval. "…swear to never bother Cloud again for as long as we live only if he spends one night in the Shin-ra Mansion," Jonas paused and then continued, "If Cloud doesn't spend the night, then we can beat him up everyday for the rest of his life."

Cloud didn't like that last part and frowned.

"Signed, Jonas," Jonas was finished.

Cloud tried to salvage the situation.

"Now get him to sign it," Cloud pointed at Keith.

Jonas shoved the paper and pen into Keith's hands and gave him an intimidating look at his little brother, who reluctantly signed it. Then Jonas handed the paper to Cloud, but Cloud didn't accept it.

"And Devin?" Cloud asked.

"What about him?" Jonas growled.

"I won't sign it until he does," Cloud crossed his arms.

Jonas' patience was running thin. "He'll do it, just sign it!" Jonas couldn't hide his temper much longer.

Cloud grabbed his bags and made it to the door of his house. Jonas wouldn't accept that Cloud was walking away. Jonas caught up with him.

"And if I don't?" Jonas growled.

"Then, I'll tell on you," Cloud smiled.

If he did, then both Jonas and Keith would get into trouble.

"Fine," Jonas barked, "But you better meet us in front of the mansion at 8, or we will kick your ass!" With that last remark said, Jonas left dragging Keith with him.

Cloud sighed and retreated into the warmth of his home.

"Cloud! You're home!" Cloud's mother ran over to him, "I heard what happened."

Uh-oh, Cloud forgot entirely that he was still in trouble and didn't think up of an excuse. "But, but, he started it!" Cloud shouted out at no one. 

Cloud's mother hugged him, "I know. Old man Fred saw it and told me immediately. But didn't I tell you to ignore them?"

"It is really hard not to when they push you like that," Cloud grimly said.

She examined Cloud. His shirt was stretched up and wrinkled, and there is a red scrape on the side of his face. She grabbed a warm washcloth and began to clean his wounds.

"Am I in trouble?" It was a hopeless question.

"No. Everyone who saw it said that it was self-defense, so you're not in trouble," she hugged Cloud again.

"Then, why didn't anybody come to help me?" Cloud whined.

"I don't know, maybe they couldn't get there fast enough," There was a bitterness in her voice. Then she pretended that she was instantly happy again. "Dinner is ready," she smiled.

Cloud handed the bags to his mother as he made his way to the table to sit. Sure enough, that was what she was working on all afternoon. Cloud was suddenly hungry.

Cloud kept watching the clock tick, it's sound was really beginning to annoy him. Them he had the feeling that he was being watched.

"I'm sorry did you say something?" Cloud snapped back into reality.

Cloud's mother sighed, then repeated her question, "I was saying, what possessed you to buy that game anyway?"

"Oh, uh," Cloud didn't expect for the question to be a simple one. He spent so much time trying to think up of an excuse to get out of the house this late. Time was running out, the clock read 7:30 PM. That game gave him an idea.

"Um, Johnny wanted to try out that game, so he asked if I could spend the night tonight," Cloud thought about that lie and wished that he had thought up of something better.

"Oh?" She raised an eyebrow, "Johnny? You mean Joe's little boy?"

Oops. Cloud had forgotten about that. Can't turn back now.

"Yeah," Cloud made up his mind.

"Is that what you have been thinking about?" She knew that something was not right.

Cloud looked down back at his bowl. The food had grown cold a long time ago.

"Yeah," he said with a sigh.

"You sound like you don't want to go," his mother studied Cloud's body language and gestures. She made a guess.

"Are you afraid that I would say no, because it is very short notice?" What else there could be, she thought.

An easy way out, Cloud had a chance.

"Yeah," Cloud said.

"I see…. Well, I see no reason why you can't go," She smiled. She knew that he was a little depressed and wanted to cheer him up.

Cloud looked up and met his mother's blue eyes, it looked like a mirror reflection, which sometimes spooked him, but he was not bothered now.

"Well, are you going to just sit there and stare at me Cloud, or are you going to pack?" She was happy that Cloud had a friend and at lest he can play with someone else.

"What about the dishes?" Cloud couldn't believe that he just asked that question.

"Don't worry about it, remember that you did it three nights in a row so I guess that it's my turn now," she smiled.

That was because you told me to do it, he thought.

"Okay," he finally said and stood up to get his bag.

"Ahem," she pointed to his bowl.

Cloud turned back with an instant comprehension. "Oh, yeah. Sorry," Cloud picked up his dishes in a clumsy haste and made his way to the sink.

That was a lot easier than I thought, he was thing to himself. His thoughts became more and more jumbled as he was figuring out what to do next. Then the sound of the dishes clattering against each other acted as a chime that instantly cleared his thoughts. His final thought was a quick silent prayer that his mother would never find out the truth.

Cloud emptied out his backpack that contained his school supplies. He made a mental check list for himself to put together a quick survival kit: Flashlight, batteries, candy bars, four cans of soda, a portable video game player with a few extra games, and a blanket. His idea for survival was a simple one, find a corner and stay there.

He rooted through his other stuff until he found a snapshot camera. He was willing to bet that he was going to have to provide proof that he stayed at the Shin-ra Mansion all night and didn't sneak out during the night. He tossed the camera in his bag with an extra roll of film.

Next on his mind was self-defense. Cloud reached under his bed and found what he was looking for. A metal pipe. He was more afraid of Devin and his brothers than whatever that was inside of the mansion, but he had to figure out a way to conceal it, yet be able to get it out at a moment's notice.

The best way to hide it was under his shirt but unfortunately his white T-shirt didn't hide much, not to mention that it was too cold on his bear skin, so he grabbed a heavy blue sweatshirt that had a high collar but it was not quite a turtle neck. Blue jeans and sneakers completed his outfit. The metal pipe fitted inside his right pocket while it reached across his chest where it rested on his left shoulder. He was very careful in not letting his mother see the pipe because that would raise questions that he didn't want to answer. That last item that he packed was his new video game to maintain his cover story.

Cloud double checked his stuff and made sure that everything was in order. He nodded to himself as a silent signal that everything was all set. He looked at the clock. It was 7:47 PM. He was doing good with the time.

Cloud's mother looked at him, "That was quick enough, what's your hurry?"

"He wanted me to be there at 8, but I wanted to be there early," he figured that there was no harm in letting a little truth slip out.

"Well, you gotta get going then, huh?"

"Yeah," Cloud nodded and stared walking to the door.

"Then gimme a hug and I'll see you tomorrow," she reached out her arms as Cloud walked over to her.

The hug seemed to recharge Cloud. He felt better than ever. He gave her a genuine smile, then kissed her on the cheek.

"Bye," Cloud said and he walked out the door.

The cold air form outside invaded the house and assaulted her bare feet. She stood there, alone, in the small house. Now she was sure that something was not right, and what was he hiding under his shirt? She was hoping that it wasn't what she was thinking it was. She looked outside and watched Cloud outside. Then she sighed in relief when she saw Johnny step outside, wave to Cloud and started to run towards him. She shook her head, dismissing her bad feeling as her imagination. She didn't want to be the type of mother who would smuttier her child, or was over protective. She raised Cloud to use his head and decided to take a chance and trust his judgement.

"Humph," she said to her self as she dropped the curtain.

"It looks like I have good timing then," Johnny said after Cloud told him about his cover story.

"Why do you say that?" Cloud asked.

Johnny looked over Cloud's shoulder, which gave Cloud the signal to look back, but Cloud only saw the curtains sway loosely.

"Hmm," Cloud agreed with Johnny. "Wait, what are you doing out this late? I thought Joe…er, your dad wouldn't let you out at night," Cloud had a point, Joe was like that when it came to Johnny.

"I got a call from Jonas and told me what was going on and wanted a witness, but my dad doesn't like him or his brothers so I told him that I was going over to your house," Johnny explained.

Cloud nodded, "Then do me a favor and cover me if my mom calls your place sometime tonight."

"Sure will," Johnny agreed.

Of all of the boys in Nibleheim, Johnny was the closest to being a friend of his, but he didn't really know him that well, so he was considered as an acquaintance.

"We need to get going," Cloud urged, as both of the boys started to make their was to the gates of the Shin-ra Mansion.

"Are you really going to spend the night there?" Johnny had a hard time believing it.

"Mm-hmm, and I brought a camera to prove it too," Cloud seemed to be determined.

"Wow. I could never do that," Johnny sighed.

The two were standing next to each other, which showed off on how tall Johnny was. Cloud felt small again.

"Man, you got guts!" Johnny slapped Cloud's back.

Ow! I wish people didn't do that, Cloud thought.

"I mean, after what you did today, and even what you said to Devin's face, either you got some nerve, or you are really dumb."

"Gee, thanks," Cloud said in a sarcastic tone.

"Anytime," Johnny smiled.

They stopped at the gates of the old mansion and found no one there waiting for them. Then they heard a scuffing sound coming from the mayor's house. Both Cloud and Johnny watched in mild amusement as they watched Jonas climb out of a bedroom window first, then Keith climbed out and finally Devin took up the rear. All three of them were surprised to find Cloud and Johnny there early waiting for them.

Cloud giggled and Johnny bit his lip as they saw Devin fall out of the window and hearing him moan "ow." Cloud also started to bite his lip to keep from laughing when he saw how awkward Devin was, and watching all them of them desperately try to regain their posture. It was too much for Cloud to hold in. He had to turn away in order to keep from laughing out loud. Johnny had the same trouble too, and also turned away. To kill time, and to get himself to think about something else, Cloud opened his backpack to retrieve his flashlight, while Johnny was counting to ten out loud to himself.

Cloud resealed his backpack and tossed it on his back, but whispered "ow," to himself when the left strap pushed against the metal bar which caused it to did into his skin. He quickly readjusted the strap. There was still some mild pain but it was not was bad as it was before. There was no time to readjust the bar. Cloud didn't want to give away the fact that he was armed and was also in fear on having it taken away form him. 

Instead, Cloud turned on the flashlight and pointed it on the ground. He held the flashlight in his left hand and had his right hand under the sweatshirt to grip the pipe, but was also careful to make it look like he really put his hand into his pocket. He was ready.

Jonas saw the light from the flashlight, which revealed a small pothole in his path and made careful note to step around it. Jonas didn't expect for Cloud to go this far and wondered if it was still worth it. If Cloud really did spend the night, then he would surely tell their father about it, but Jonas was the type of person who always had a plan B.

"If you laugh, then I'll kick your ass!" Devin growled. Devin seemed to have recovered from what happened earlier.

"Yeah Johnny!" Keith barked.

"Sorry" Johnny looked terrified as he softly said it. He was looking at the ground now.

"Well, you looked like an idiot!" Cloud blurted out by mistake.

"Oh, yeah?" Devin got angry again.

Since Cloud was on their bad side anyway, it wouldn't hurt to dig his grave a little deeper. Might as well go down fighting. Cloud looked up and glared into Devin's eyes. Johnny looked at Cloud in surprise, then he became fearful for Cloud's safety.

Jonas grabbed Devin's shoulder, "Enough, there will be plenty of time to kick his ass later."

Devin backed down. It was pretty much clear who was the boss around here.

Jonas reached into his pocket and pulled out the handwritten contract.

"I figured that you might want Devin to sign it in front of you," he turned to Devin, "Sign it."

Devin took the paper and signed it while glaring at Cloud. He had to use Keith's back as a hard surface, then handed the paper to his older twin.

"Now you sign it," Jonas turned to Cloud.

"Have Johnny read it out loud and then sign it as a witness," Cloud knew that this would annoy Jonas.

Jonas now understood why Devin picked on Cloud a lot. He was a pain in the ass, and deserved to be put back in his place. Johnny was treated nicer than Cloud because he accepted his place in the scheme of things, while Cloud refused to be defeated like that. Though what Cloud had just said really did annoy him, he also thought that it would be really fun to break his spirit.

"Very well," Jonas quietly said while masking his anger. Then he handed the paper to Johnny.

Johnny hated being put on the spot like that, but he liked Cloud as a friend and said nothing. Johnny accepted the note and read it out loud. It was exactly the same as Cloud heard before, and then he signed it. He gave Cloud a worried look. He didn't like that last part either.

Cloud re-read it and signed it with a heavy sigh. Jonas smiled.

"I want Johnny to hang on to it," Cloud declared.

Jonas looked at him. Cloud was still holding the paper.

"And if I don't?" Jonas asked.

"Then I'll rip it," Cloud stated.

"Fine," Jonas said calmly.

Cloud handed the paper to Johnny. Johnny looked at it again, then folded it up and put it in his jacket pocket. Cloud shifted his backpack.

"It's not time to go, Cloudy!" Keith sang while pointing to the mansion.

Cloud pushed Keith into Devin.

"Shut up faggot!" Cloud yelled back. Then pushed the gate open and walked onto the property.

Keith glared at him through the gates.

"What's wrong Cloudy? Ashamed that your mom was stupid enough to give you a girly name?" Keith laughed at him.

"At least I can stand up to your butthole brothers!" Cloud said as the distance between them grew.

Keith fell silent. Cloud must have struck a nerve, but the comeback also pissed both Jonas and Devin off.

Johnny slapped his hand on his forehead in disbelief. Cloud, don't do this… he thought.

Jonas and Devin shouted something at Cloud, but Clout was too far away to really understand the message.

Cloud stopped at the doorsteps and shined his flashlight at the door. The door looked liked it was busted open before. He took a step closer and touched the door. The door creaked open with a loud squeak. Cloud expected that, and then stepped inside, closing the door behind him.

Jonas, Devin, Keith and Johnny watched Cloud disappear into the Shin-ra Mansion. Jonas had just about had it with Cloud.

"Johnny, gimme that paper for a second. I wanna see if Cloud really signed it," Jonas turned to Johnny.

"But you saw him do it," Johnny said defiantly.

"I know. I just wanna see it, that's all," Jonas gave Johnny an innocent look.

Johnny studied him as he reached into his pocket and handed him the folded piece of notebook paper.

Jonas held the paper in his hands. Then looked back at the mansion.

"Well, since we got Cloud inside, then…" Jonas ripped up the paper, "I guess we don't need this anymore."

Johnny's eyes widened in surprise. Jonas' brothers grinned. Jonas directed his attention to Johnny.

"Johnny go home, and if you even breathe a word about this, then I'll make sure that you won't breathe at all," Jonas said in a threating tone.

Johnny glared at him, then walked away.

Jonas looked at his brothers.

Keith grinned, "So are we going to do it?"

Jonas nodded while Devin grinned ear to ear.

The three of them started to giggle.

When Johnny got to a safe distance, he reached into his other pocket to get another piece of paper along with a tape recorder. That was why Cloud had Johnny read the contract out loud. On the way to the Shin-ra Mansion he told Cloud about the tape recorder after Cloud mentioned the camera, so they came up with a plan.

Johnny opened the piece of paper that was in the pocket with the tape recorder. He smiled to himself, and realized that he accidentally gave Jonas the wrong folded piece of paper. It was really a doodle that he did in school earlier when he got bored. The contract proved to be an added bonus.

Next, Johnny reached in his back jeans pocket and pulled out an envelope with the mayor's name and address written on it. He then put the tape cassette and the contract in it and sealed it. Then he dropped it into the mayor's mailbox. Johnny was fed up with the mayor's sons too.

****

Part Two:

Cloud watched Jonas rip up the paper from the window so he was hoping that Johnny would do his part of the plan. That contract was the last chance he had to get them to leave him alone. And if he spent the night, it would lay the biggest guilt trip on the mayor so he would have to punish his boys. Jonas' plan for revenge had given Cloud a chance to plan his own, with Johnny's help. However, Cloud was now worried because he saw the three of them giggle. From Cloud's point of view, he saw the three of them open the gates to enter the property. This made Cloud panic a little as he finally drew out the pipe. Then the three boys stop in their tracks and looked at their house. Jonas, Devin, and Keith suddenly made a mad dash to the bedroom window from where they came from. As Cloud watched, he saw the last one make it inside. Apparently, it looks like their mother, or some other woman open the bedroom door, tell them something, and finally they left the room. When the lights were turned off, Cloud let out a sigh of relief. He was willing to bet that dinner was ready and that they had to act like there was nothing going on.

Cloud started to look at his surroundings. He thought about putting the pipe away, but it was too uncomfortable to keep it under his sweatshirt any longer. Cloud scanned the interior of the mansion with the flashlight. He figured that he had about an hour before they returned, so he wanted to find a place that was far away from the windows, yet somewhere he could get out in a hurry in case they decided to set fire to it and….

There was an abrupt scream and Cloud jumped. The scream was definitely from somewhere in this mansion.

"Who's there?" Cloud asked to no one, his voice wavered.

The screams continued. Whoever it was, it sounded like they were in a lot of pain. As Cloud listened, he noted variations in the screams. Cloud looked to his right when he heard a distinctive "help me," garbled up in the screams.

I wonder what happened? He thought. Are the Shin-ra people really that evil? What was the kid's name? Where are his parents? Did Shin-ra kill them too? Cloud gulped to himself, "Will they kill me for sneaking in too?" He gasped to himself.

Cloud wanted out right now and reached for the doorknob when he saw the bedroom that also served as a door for Devin and company lit up. He saw a kid walk in, grabbed a chair and sat at the window to keep a close watch on the Shin-ra Mansion.

"Damn it!" Cloud cursed to himself. He should've left sooner. Cloud decided to at least show him a signal that he was still inside. Cloud pointed his flashlight out to the window. He got a response when his look out shot him the bird.

"It must be Keith," Cloud stated to himself. Jonas and Devin would have used both hands. Cloud flicked Keith back and move away from the window.

The screams started again, and Cloud again jumped. It came from the same direction as it did before. Cloud looked into that empty hallway when the screams abruptly died.

"What happened in there?" Cloud demanded to himself. Talking out loud seemed to make him feel better and more focused. Cloud started into that direction as he started to walk into that hallway, pipe ready.

Cloud stopped at the entrance of the hallway and noticed a door on the right. Cloud wanted to be through on his investigation so he turned the doorknob and pushed the door wide open.

There was an instant hiss as a dark figure lunged out at him. Cloud screamed and clumsily swung the pipe at the creature but missed. The creature counter attacked by striking Cloud's arm. Cloud yelped in pain as the flashlight went flying in the air until it struck the ground. It shattered into several pieces upon impact.

Cloud jumped back and griped the pipe with both hands. The creature lunged again. Luckily for Cloud, his eyes were adjusted to the dark and saw the creature coming. Cloud successful dodged the creature as it hit the wall. Without thinking, Cloud lunged at the creature. The pipe hit home as it hit the creature's back. The creature screamed in pain as it tried to snap at Cloud.

"Whoa!" Cloud jumped back but fell on the ground. Suddenly, he was glad that he got away when he did, because he saw the sharp teeth glistened in what little light that was in the room.

The creature stood up, it was about two and a half feet tall and it obviously had at least four legs but by the way it moved, he was willing to bet that it had more legs than that. Cloud tried to get up but he was caught on some kind of net that was very tough and very sticky. The creature hissed at him again. Cloud held his pipe up as the creature lunged at him for the killing blow. Cloud didn't have time to close his eyes.

All of the sudden, the creature stopped in mid air. Cloud looked up in puzzlement until he felt something hot drip on his hands. Cloud looked again and found that the creature landed on the pipe and as a result, it impaled itself. The creature started to move again and Cloud pushed the creature away, he had to let go of the pipe. For a ferocious creature, it was surprisingly light because there was now a safe distance between him, and that thing.

Cloud watched the creature desperately try to cling on to life as it thrashed and kicked and wailed out to anything that could possibly help it. Then it fell limp, but it was still breathing with great labor for a few moments, then it lost it's battle for life and died.

Cloud sighed and looked at his hand. It was covered in a clear goop and it felt nasty against his skin. Not to mention that it smelled bad too. He wiped his hand on the white blanket on the floor next to him.

Wait, this is not a blanket! Cloud thought to himself.

He tried to get up but he was still trapped on the sticky webbing.

"This is some kind of spider web!" He shouted to himself, and tried frantically to get out, but for some reason the web seemed to tighten it's grip as he struggled. Cloud had to stop when he had trouble breathing.

"Okay, stay calm," He was coaching himself, "There has got to be an easier was to get out of this."

He looked around and his hand suddenly felt cold, he looked at his left hand that was completely covered in spider goop and found that it was moving freely. Cloud tried to move his right hand but winced in pain as the web tightened its grip on it.

Cloud tested a theory. He moved his left hand and found that the web dissolve itself when it touched the goop thus, releasing its grip.

Cloud moved slowly as he worked his was over to his right hand and Cloud sighed in relief now that the blood was circulating in his hand again.

Cloud worked his way with his goop-covered hands as he first released the grip it had on his throat, then chest and arms. Cloud tried to sit up only to find out in dismay that the web was stuck in his hair too. Cloud sighed as he worked to get his hair free. He was very careful to not get anymore goop on him and to only touch the web that held him prisoner.

"Ow, ow," He complained softly to himself as he tried to get the spiked hair free.

He worked his legs free as soon as he was able to sit up strait and was very relived when he got himself free from the trap.

He wiped his hands clean on the bottom and on the sides of his shoes. He was standing in the middle of the room now but he wasn't too happy that he now smelled bad, but at least he was okay.

Cloud walked over to the dead spider to get a closer look. The spider was slumped over on its side, and Cloud could see both ends of the pipe. He gripped the pipe with his left hand and jerked it away from the spider's body. Clear goop oozed everywhere on the floor. Cloud walked over to the curtain at the far side of the room and used the moth-eaten draperies to clean it.

The curtain rod that held the curtain fell to the floor very quickly, but Cloud didn't care. He thoroughly wiped the pipe clean then swung it in the air to get whatever goop that was in the pipe out. When he was finished, he used the curtain again to wipe his hands clean again. Then he carelessly dropped the fabric on the floor.

More of the moon light shone into the room and it was a lot easier for Cloud to see. He looked at the wall by the door and recovered the battery casing for the flashlight. He quickly made his way over to the door and picked up the casing. Nearby he found a battery, then the cover with the light bulb inside. Cloud never did find the second battery and had to resort to digging up a replacement battery from the front pocket of his backpack.

Assembling the flashlight was easy and Cloud smiled triumphantly when it glowed back to life again. He was standing out in the hallway now as he closed the door to the room he was in. He never wanted to go in there ever again.

The faint continuous howl invaded Cloud's ears. It sounded like someone was crying and it still came from the hallway. The second that Cloud thought about it, the screams started again. It really did sounded like someone was torturing a kid. Cloud began to feel pity, and decided that the least he could do was to find out what really happened. Who knows, Cloud thought, maybe it will let the little boy's ghost rest.

The hallway made a 90-degree turn to the left and made a dead end with only one door on the left. The screams faded down again to a whisper as he made his way down the hall but then stopped at the closed door. After what happened last time, he was a little paranoid about opening yet another door. He rested his hand on the doorknob as he stopped to think.

Then suddenly again, the screams shrieked at its loudest volume. Cloud realized that part of the scream was his own because it took him completely by surprise. What was worse, the sound came from right next to him, almost above him.

Cloud looked up as the screaming sound subsided. Cloud could still make out the sounds that cried out "help me." His flashlight worked its was up to meet his line of vision. Then he sighed to himself in disbelief.

The flashlight revealed a collapsed ventilation airway that swayed and whistled loudly. Cloud witnessed the broken air shaft sway as the wind blowed through the house. He couldn't figure out where the wind came from, but he found the source of the screams as the sound started again. The airshaft began to swing a lot that produces the sound of "help me." Cloud took his pipe and knocked the broken airshaft to the ground. There was a loud crash on the floor while the howls and screams ceased.

Cloud was extremely relived to learn that there was no little boy who had a nasty fate of torture and death by the Shin-ra people. He felt a whole lot better to learn that this mansion was not haunted after all.

Cloud looked at the door on the left and saw that the airshaft fell against it, which made it difficult to get in. After what happened last time he decided not to push his luck and turned back into the main area.

He was standing in front of the main doors when he heard a knock at the window. Cloud darted on one side of the door and let it swing open as he stood behind it. He saw a flashlight and that shadow of a figure step in. Cloud was betting that it was Devin.

That jerk, he thought. I bet that he is going to sabotage this deal by making it impossible for me to meet my end of the deal. I'll show him.

The figure stepped completely inside as Cloud turned off his flashlight to get the element of surprise. The he took his cue. First he pushed the figure as hard as he could, and then slammed the door shut behind him and retreated into the shadows.

The figure screamed and Cloud realized that he made a mistake. It wasn't Devin, it was…

"Johnny," Cloud announced his presence as the flashlight blinded his eyes.

"Cloud!" Johnny was shaking the flashlight then, pointed the light to the ground when he saw Cloud shielding his eyes. Though Johnny didn't fall when Cloud pushed him, he now fell on to his knees.

"Please, for the love of your life, please don't **ever do that**!" Johnny whispered.

"Sorry, I thought you were Devin trying to sabotage this deal" Cloud apologized.

"They're in for a disappointment," Johnny whispered.

"You mean, you did it?" Cloud whispered back.

Johnny nodded then added the part about the contract it self.

"Then what did Jonas tear up? I was watching them through the window!" Cloud whispered.

"I gave him the wrong the paper," Johnny whispered back.

"Sweet!" Cloud whispered with a smile. Then changed the subject.

"Wait, why are you here?" Cloud asked out loud.

"They…they made me," Johnny whimpered.

"How? Why?" Cloud demanded.

"They wanted me to find you to prove that you were still here. But they look like that they were planning to do something terrible. I didn't want to go in, but they said that if I didn't they will tell my dad a lot of bed things that I didn't do to get me in trouble."

"But Joe wouldn't believe them," Cloud pointed out.

"True, but they said that they would get someone else that my dad did believe to tell on me," Johnny was fighting back tears.

"What do you mean 'something terrible?'" Cloud questioned Johnny about what he knew about Jonas and Devin's plan.

"I'm not sure but they called almost everybody so all of the kids are sneaking out of their windows to meet them here," Johnny wiped his face. Cloud became puzzled when Johnny paused and looked at him with terror. Johnny pointed hi flashlight at Cloud's face. Cloud closed his eyes.

"Cloud, you're hurt," Johnny stated.

"I'm alright."

"No, really Cloud," Johnny wiped Cloud's forehead to show Cloud that his hand was red.

Cloud quickly wiped his own forehead and also found that he was bleeding.

Johnny retrieved a red and white bandana that was hanging out from his pocket, and started to wipe Cloud's face.

"I can take care of it," Cloud protested. Johnny let Cloud take the bandanna.

Johnny watched Cloud wipe his face clean. There was no sign of injury that he could see. As Cloud handed the bandana back, Johnny saw blood reappearing from above his left eyebrow.

"Hold on, I see more blood," Johnny started wiping again. This time he was working into Cloud's hairline then finally found the source of the blood. A small cut in the scalp.

"Damn, that stings!" Cloud complained.

"Fine, you take care of it," Johnny grabbed Cloud's hand and placed it against the bandana. Johnny was relived that it was just a little cut.

Cloud gritted his teeth as he applied pressure to the small injury.

"Geez, what happened to you?"

Cloud told him about the spider.

"Is that why you smell funny?" Johnny sniffed.

"Um-hmm," Cloud nodded.

"Did you see the ghost?" Johnny changed the subject.

Cloud shook his head. "This place isn't haunted!"

"What?" Johnny didn't believe Cloud.

Cloud told him about the broken airshaft.

Johnny just looked at Cloud. Cloud lowered his hand that was handing the bandanna in place. He had stopped bleeding.

"That's what it was all along? Oh man! Boy, everyone is going to be surprised."

Cloud thought he heard something and stood up.

"What's up?" Johnny stood up. Cloud was already looking out the window.

"It's them," Cloud reported.

"Johnny where are you?" Someone shouted from outside.

Cloud pulled the door wide open. Johnny walked out while Cloud stood in the doorway.

"I found him!" Johnny shouted. Almost every kid in Nibleheim was out there. "Can I go now? If I stay any longer, my dad will get angry," Johnny made that up as an excuse. Cloud has never seen Joe angry.

"Fine, go!" Jonas shouted.

Johnny turned to Cloud.

"Johnny, go. I'll be fine," Cloud reassured him.

Johnny nodded and left, however, he had to walk past Jonas and Devin. Cloud was a little surprised that none of the kids really bothered Johnny as he left. A few of them even patted him on the back for not being a chicken.

"Jonas, what's going on?" Cloud yelled to the group.

Jonas ran through the gates on to the yard then stopped when he was ten feet away from the door.

"Will you be quiet! Do you want to wake everyone up and get us all into trouble?" Jonas demanded at a lower tone of voice.

"You mean you will get in trouble, not me," Cloud felt like he could take Jonas out, after what happened with the spider. He felt rather fearless.

Jonas glared at him. "You wanna fight? Huh? Is that what you want, you little piece of shit?"

Cloud just folded his arms.

Jonas was ready. "C'on! Come out here and we will take care of this right now!"

"Jonas, this is not my house, there is nothing stopping you from coming in here. You want me? Then come and get me!" Cloud walked further inside, then looked over his shoulder to see what Jonas would do.

Jonas just stood there clinching his fists. Devin, Keith, and some of the other boys also walked into the yard and they were standing next to, or behind Jonas. No one went farther than that.

Cloud made it to underneath the stairway by the doorframe at the far end of the main area. He turned around again and saw that Jonas never did take a step further.

Cloud felt triumphant. Jonas or anybody for that matter didn't know the truth about this 'haunted' mansion.

Jonas instantly fumed up when he saw Cloud flick him the bird and disappear to the right. Jonas wasn't stupid. Haunted or not, Cloud could have laid out a booby trap and there was no way in the world that he was going to be taken for a fool.

Jonas turned to everyone else. "Alright, you know what to do, so do it!" Jonas snapped.

Some of the boys pulled out baseball bats. Keith pulled out a B.B. gun. Two other boys did the same. Jonas led the way around the building to the back. Along the way, Jonas was talking to Devin.

"Did you get it?" Jonas whispered.

"Yeah. It was easy stealing it from Joe," Devin whispered back with a smile.

"Then give it to me," Jonas commanded.

Devin reached into his pocket and handed Jonas the item that he was waiting for: a handgun. Jonas smiled.

"I got some other things to go with that," Devin handed Jonas some extra bullet clips and a silver cylinder.

Jonas examined the cylinder and realized that it was a silencer. He put the accessory on with ease then put the extra clips into his own pockets.

"Where's yours?" Jonas asked.

Devin shrugged, "I couldn't get it. Joe came back sooner than I thought. I almost got caught."

"Alright. You at least you brought your B.B. gun, right?"

Devin pulled out his hand held B.B. gun. He caulked it like a gun.

Jonas nodded in approval.

Cloud waited until everyone left the front entrance. Cloud peered along side the doorway. He saw two lookouts watching the front door. He waited until they looked the other way before he darted across the hall.

Cloud didn't turn on his flashlight because he didn't want to give away his location. He was used to the dark and was able to navigate freely through the empty hallway, which lead out to a huge room. He saw the piano and guessed that it was the ballroom

He stepped to look at the piano when he heard some rustling of bushed that scraped against the window. He knew that they were going around to the area the he made everyone think to where he was going. Going the opposite way had been a good idea after all. Cloud walked along the wall and made it to the corner. Then he started to go along the other wall in order to leave the room.

Cloud tripped on something and slammed his hands on the keys. He heard the started screams from outside then heard someone shout, "Do it!"

Instantly the windows began to shatter everywhere, as the kids were throwing rocks at the dilapidated mansion. Cloud ran out into the next room, only to be met with even more glass and rocks. Cloud darted out into the main area when he saw two kids aim B.B. guns at him through the door. He didn't stop, but he began to make his way up stairs.

Along the way, he heard the sounds of pops and snaps as the B.B. bullets hit the wall beside him. Cloud heard some shouting and looked back again. He heard several pops hit the wall ahead of him. If he kept going, it could have hit him. He ducked down, for what little good that could do.

Jonas and Devin met the two boys at the door. Devin was ordering all of the boys who had B.B. guns to get ready to fire. Jonas just stood there with Joe's gun in his hand.

Jonas raised the gun up to take a closer look. Something's not right, he thought.

Devin looked at Jonas. "Well? We're waiting for you," Devin wanted to really go through with this.

Jonas nodded and aimed the gun inside the doorway. Spotting Cloud was easy because someone already found him with a flashlight. Jonas tightened his grip on the handle. His finger was waiting patiently on the trigger. For a cool night, Jonas realized that he was sweating bullets. This has gone too far, he concluded to himself and lowered the lethal weapon.

"What are you doing?" Devin whispered in a very demanding way.

Jonas reoriented himself and turned to face his younger twin.

"I am not a killer," Jonas simply said.

Devin glared at Jonas.

"This has gone too far," Jonas repeated what he just thought to himself a few moments ago. Then he directed his voice to the other boys.

"Stop," he ordered. "Let's just go home and forget about it."

It looks like he was on the side of popular opinion as he heard several sighs of relief. Even Keith agreed with everyone. As it turned out, Keith never even fired a shot from his B.B. gun. Jonas gave one final look at Devin and started to walk home. Jonas urged Devin to come by patting on his shoulder.

Devin jerked Jonas back to face him.

"Are you out of your fucking mind?" Devin was in danger of turning on his own brother.

Jonas pushed Devin's hand off him. "Look," Jonas met his eyes, "you wanted revenge for what happened earlier and you got it! But enough is enough!" Jonas was careful not to let his voice get too loud.

Devin fumed silently at Jonas.

Jonas continued, "I admit, he is a pain in the ass, but at least he's got guts to stand up against you. And seeing him willing to stay in a place like this in hopes that we would simply leave him alone, I think that he has courage to face his problems." Jonas paused, then finished his speech, "I still don't like him, but at least I respect him now."

"I can't believe that you are going to be a chickenshit!" Devin pushed Jonas.

Devin's anger was at a breaking point. Right now, he wanted to take it out on anybody, regardless of who his victim was. Thankfully, Keith had already walked home with Devin's B.B. gun. Jonas now realized how much Devin was like a monster. Jonas saw his brother's true nature and was ashamed to be his twin.

"Tell me something, Devin," Jonas clicked the safety on the stolen gun and put it into his jacket pocket, but because of the added accessory, a part of the handle hanged out. "If I was Cloud's size, and wasn't your brother, would you beat me up, and terrorize me too?" Jonas made an accusation, but he was not done yet as he change his tone of voice to a sharp sarcasm, "All because I won't bow down and put up with your shit?" Jonas waited for an answer.

Devin kept glaring at Jonas. He had been clutching his fists during most of the conservation. His knuckles were turning white.

This was enough proof that Jonas needed.

"You know what?" Jonas was determined to have the last word, "I am ashamed of being your brother, and I am telling you to leave Cloud alone, or I will tell dad everything, even if I get in trouble. **Do you hear me?** Because if you don't, you know that I'll do it!" Jonas pushed Devin out of the way and started to walk home.

Devin snapped. He ran to shove Jonas on the ground, and succeeded in confiscating the gun that was in Jonas' pocket. Devin clicked off the safety and ran inside of the house.

Cloud heard most of the conservation, but now he got up and started to run the rest of the way up the stairs and took an immediate right. The wall to Cloud's right vibrated violently as Devin opened fire. Cloud kept running and took another right into a small room and took a left into the master bedroom.

"Oh great, a dead end!" Cloud whispered to himself. He turned back to find another route.

The wall kept shaking violently and Cloud saw Devin's shadow in the hallway. Cloud retreated back into the master bedroom. Cloud tried to hide under the bed, but the space between the bed and the floor was too small. Cloud decided instead to wait by the door and hit him with the pipe that he still had.

"I can hear you, Cloud." Devin sang out loud.

"I'm coming to get you." Devin giggled as if he cracked a joke to himself.

Cloud got into position and waited by the door. The creaks in the wooden floor got closer and louder. Cloud was breathing faster, and felt his heart pounding in his ears. The pipe he was holding was getting slippery because Cloud was sweating profusely. Cloud heard Devin mumble something. He was getting closer, and Cloud held his breath, and raised his pipe up to get ready to strike.

Cloud resisted the urge to strike at first sight and waited until he got a good shot of his head. Just a little closer, Cloud thought.

Devin entered the master bedroom with care. He carefully examined the room. Then spotted the sheets on the bed as messed up a little and they were still swaying from the last time Cloud messed with it. He smiled. He was now sure that Cloud was in here.

At the last second, Devin sensed some kind of movement and turned as fast as he could and spotted Cloud. Cloud hesitated, then screamed as he swung the pipe at Devin. Because Cloud hesitated, Devin was able to dodge and finally shove Cloud into the far corner as hard as he could. Cloud quickly got up, but he was having trouble breathing. As he was getting up, Cloud picked up a brick that was laying on the floor and was moving along the wall in an attempt to get away for Devin.

Devin pointed the gun at Cloud as he watched in delight because Cloud at last showed that he was afraid of him. Devin took a step closer as Cloud still moved along the wall. The texture of the wall became rough. Cloud glanced at the wall and saw that it was made of stone, like it was some kind of chimney with no fireplace. Cloud looked back at Devin. He had bigger things to worry about. Cloud leaned against the wall.

"Any last words?" Devin pointed the gun at Cloud.

"Yeah. You're a sick psycho?" Cloud was determined to not cry and beg for his life, but Cloud at least closed his eyes when Devin adjusted his grip on his gun.

Cloud jumped when he heard a loud click. He opened one eye when he heard a second click. Devin pulled the gun back. It was out of ammo.

Cloud needed to make a getaway and he threw the brick that he was holding at Devin. Devin leaned forward when the brick hit him square in the chest. The wind was knocked out of him.

The wall behind Cloud gave way, and since he was leaning on that wall, he fell into a secret room. The fall was longer than it should be, Cloud thought. The last thing that Cloud remembered was seeing the door slam back into place, and a solid hit on his back. Then there was darkness.

****

Part Three:

He sat there staring down at his paper. He was sitting at a desk that was way too big for him and had to sit on stack of books on the chair so that he could at least get at a comfortable height.

He began to mindlessly tap his pencil on the desk, trying to figure out what to do next in his studies.

"There you are," a woman in a lab coat walked into the room.

"Hi Miss Jean," he said with a smile. He was hoping that she would say that it was ok to stop now. He had so much studying to do that he could never finish. It just went on and on. Jean looked over his shoulder.

"I can't believe that Hojo expects a kid like you to learn how to do calculus by hand!" Jean obviously disapproved with the curriculum that Hojo had set.

"Then, can I stop now?" He asked.

"Sure," Jean nodded, "And because its now the weekend, you got two days off as well."

"It's Friday already?" He had lost track of the days. "Hey, do you think that you could talk Hojo in letting me have the week off, and say that it's like a spring break?" He gave her a tired look. He really did need a break.

"I'll try," she smiled and hugged him.

"Do you think that I could get a month off?" He was joking around. He knew what the answer would be.

Jean playfully tickled him and he giggled in delight. "Don't push your luck, okay?"

He squirmed away from Jean.

"Okay," he was still giggling.

"Hey, listen, we were getting ready to go out and get some supplies. Do you want me to get you something?"

"Can I go?" He begged.

Jean hugged him. "I'm sorry, but not tonight. It's too cold and I don't want you to make yourself sicker than you are already."

Tears filled his eyes. "But, I haven't been outside in over a month, and it was cold then, and I was ok."

"But do you remember what happened after that?" Jean gently reminded him. He sighed.

"I got sick a couple of days later," he grimly admitted.

She kissed him. "That's right. You got very sick, and you have only begun to feel better recently. You developed phenomia, you know."

"I know," he started crying, "it's just so lonely in here, and all I ever wanted was…" he started sobbing.

Jean sympathized. It isn't right to keep a kid locked up all because he had a rare illness. The only comfort that she could provide was a protective hug.

"What?" She whispered into his ear. "What is it that you want?"

"A friend," he whispered.

"But I'm your friend," Jean countered.

"No, I meant someone who is my age. You know someone who I can do things with, a best friend. I know that you are my friend and we do have fun, but…" he cried softly.

"Shhh…" she tried to calm him down, "it's okay," she patted his back, "it's okay."

"Okay," he whispered. He felt better anyway. It was not healthy to hold back emotions. He felt relived, although he was in the same dilemma that he was in before.

"I'll tell you what, in the summer when the weather gets warmer, we'll go to Gold Saucer together for you birthday." Jean made a promise to him.

"My birthday? But my birthday is on-" 

"Then, we'll pretend that it's your birthday ok?"

He thought about it, "You bet!" He was smiling.

Jean was pleased that she could always cheer him up. He now had something to look forward to and he couldn't wait.

"So what do you want me to get you?" Jean was back on the subject about going out for supplies.

"I don't know," he didn't care anymore.

"The usual?" She guessed.

He shrugged. When she said the usual, it meant junk food.

Is that a yes?" She wanted an answer from him.

He nodded.

"Okay then. We'll be back as soon as possible."

"We?" He sounded hurt.

"I'm sorry, but I forgot. We are getting a new specialist tonight, and everybody has to meet him, you know that. Rules are rules."

He understood. "Then can I come with you to the door?" At least he could pretend to go somewhere.

"It's a deal. Let's go, everybody's waiting," Jean grabbed his hand.

She led him down the hallway into the main area of the library. It was empty, and it had the same lighting that always gave it an errie look. In the middle of the room, there was a desk, and on the other side of the room, there were clear chambers. He always hated being told to go in there. They would always give him a shot of something that would always make him fall asleep and then wake up being violently ill, and all of his muscles were sore for days. He never understood why they would have to do all of these things to him that made him sick just because they wanted him to get better.

Jean opened the door that led to the underground tunnel. She was not kidding when she said that it was too cold. He rubbed his shoulders in an attempt to warm himself up. Jean saw this and so she took off her lab coat and put it on him.

"Thank you," he said as he put his arms in the oversized sleeves. That coat was still warm and it smelled of Jean's perfume.

"Excuse me Jean, but I need you to take a look at this," someone called to Jean.

Jean knew who it was and knew it was something important. "Yeah, I'll be there in a second," she called back. Then she looked at the little boy. "Why don't you go on a head and say hi to Hojo. I'll catch up to you in a minute."

"Sure," he kept walking up a head. Jean thought it was really funny watching him walk while wearing her lab coat. It was too big for him, and with his long white hair, he looked like a little ghost, and a cute one at that.

He was jogging down the underground corridor that was carved into the earth. He met up with Hojo.

"You can not go with us tonight. You will have to stay here," Hojo bluntly told him as a way of saying "hello."

"I know. I just wanted to walk you to the door, that's all," he had already accepted his role. Although he was lonely, he liked having the place to himself, on one was around to tell him what to do.

Hojo like the way his behavior has improved since Jean joined his team of assistants. Before, he would deliberately disobey orders. Sometimes Hojo would spy on Jean to see what she did to make this child behave himself. Hojo liked the way Jean was able to explain things to the boy. Hojo then concluded that because the child, who now stood before him, had a better understanding on what was going on, then someone, even as young as he could adapt easier to new situations.

"Do you think that I can go to Gold Saucer someday?" He asked Hojo.

"What?" Hojo was caught off guard.

"You know, Gold Saucer," he repeated himself.

Hojo looked at him. He didn't know what to say.

"Like sometime in the summer when the weather is warmer?" He hinted.

Hojo was thinking. At this moment, Hojo would rather be trapped in a room full of narrow minded people who would dare call themselves 'scientists' rather than having to face one child who was this important to him.

"Please," he begged, "I've been very good, and I promise that I'll keep on being good."

"That sounds like a very good idea, professor," Jean cut in.

Hojo muttered something.

He smiled at Hojo. He and Jean developed a routine to back Hojo in a corner in order to make him say "yes" to these types of questions.

"Well…" Hojo needed more convincing.

"If you are worried about who will go with him, then I'll volunteer to go," Jean played innocent.

"Hmm…" Hojo looked down at this child who in return, was batting his eyelashes at him.

Hojo couldn't stand the cuteness anymore.

"Alright, you can go," Hojo gave in as the boy jumped in joy. "But," Hojo added, "Only if I go with you too."

He stopped jumping, and looked at Hojo. Why would Hojo want to go? He always thought Hojo was the type who hated to have fun. It didn't really matter as he gave Hojo a big hug.

Hojo stumbled back a couple of steps as he hugged him. There was no real bond between him and Hojo except that of a prisoner to a warden. He was just happy that Hojo said yes and gave Jean a wink.

Jean winked back, and he released his grip on Hojo.

Hojo straitened out his coat and found something in one of his pockets. Hojo reached into his pocket and pulled out a small black velvet bag with a pull string.

"Here, I want you to have this," Hojo handed out the bag to him.

He examined the bag. "Thank you. But, what is it?" He didn't expect this.

"Open it," Hojo ordered.

Jean nodded and smiled.

He looked inside the bag and gasped in surprise. "Is this what I think it is?"

"Hmm-hmmm. Your first materia," Hojo announced.

He pulled out four green orbs that were the size of large marbles.

"Can you tell which is which?" Hojo tested him.

He studied them carefully. "Ok," he pointed out one, "this is barrier, and this one is heal," he pointed to the next one, "this is, uh… re… restore," he had trouble remembering the name, "and this is revive."

"Very good," Hojo congratulated him. "Now I want you to work with it and learn how to master it."

"How?" He asked. "I've read about it and know how to use it, but I never tried it. How do I master it?"

"You just use it. That is how you master it," Hojo replied. "But remember, if you use it too much at once, you will get tired and it will not work anymore until you get some rest."

"Okay, I will," he couldn't wait to try it out.

"Now we have to go. Be a good boy while we're gone."

"Okay," he said. At least he had something else to do besides homework.

He walked along side Hojo up to the wooden stairs and turned to see a door that is hard to find on the left. Hojo opened the door and instantly, everyone was hit by a strong cold breeze. He stood by the door as everyone else walked by.

Jean took up the rear. "Can you lock the door, please? We'll be back soon."

"Sure," he nodded.

Jean smiled and walked past him. He quickly closed the door and locked it. He was cold all over again, but all he could think about, was trying out the new materia that he just received.

He was planning to sit on the stairs to get another look of the materia when he heard a loud thump, and another, and a third one from above. Sometimes he would go upstairs, and every time he did, it was always empty. No one was there. He heard another loud thump. Someone was definitely up there tonight, and he wanted to find out who it was. He began to run up the spiral stairs to the backside of the hidden door. He bent down to see what was going on through a peephole.

He saw a small figure swing something at a much larger figure. Then watching the small figure being thrown out of site that was accompanied with another loud bang against the wall. He had to jump back from his peephole because the wall vibrated violently as a result from the blow. He looked back into his peephole and watched the larger figure wave a gun at the smaller figure. For a handgun, it had an unusually long barrel. Then suddenly his peephole was blocked, the smaller figure had moved in front of it. From the sound of their voices, they sounded like they were only kids, except that one wants to kill the other!

Well, he wasn't going to let that happen! He reached to the far right side of the door and was frantically trying to unlock it, and fast. Undoing the combination lock was easy, but the bar that was braced across the door was stuck!

He stood in the middle of the door and was trying to pull the brace up as hard as he could, then he raced to the left side of the door and found the problem. Someone put another lock on that side, and it was a pad lock.

He began to shake the bar as rapidly as he could, and noticed that the latch that was attached to the wall itself was loose which it can be pulled off. He grunted as he pulled as hard as he could.

"Any last words?" He heard a voice say. Time was running out. He braced his feet upon the wall so he can get more leverage by pulling with his arms and pushing with his legs. The nails gave way a little and he fell on the platform at the top of the stairs.

"Yeah," he heard a second voice say as he stood up, "you're a sick psycho?"

Stupid, you don't say that to someone who is pointing a gun at you! He thought to himself. He looked at the partially broken latch when he had to resort to his last option. He took a step back and kicked it as hard as he could. The latch was almost off as he kicked it again. He was preparing to give it a final kick, but the door flung open by itself and he saw the small figure fall off the platform, strait down to the floor. He looked inside the master bedroom and saw the larger figure bend down gasping for air. He quickly closed the door and re-positioned the bar back on the hooks that held the bar in place. Above the left latch, that still had the pad lock on it, was completely destroyed. He reached over to the right side and redid the combination lock. He firmly tugged the bar upward and found that it was secure. He took one final look through the peephole and saw the large figure was begging to recover. Suddenly he didn't feel safe anymore and he began to worry about the other figure that fell.

He ran down the stairway as fast as he could. His mind was racing with questions: Who is he? Who was that other kid with the gun? Is he dead? Why was there a second lock? Will I get in trouble for doing this? As he got closer, he heard a faint moan.

"Hang on! I'm coming!" He yelled as he finally jumped from the stairs when he was low enough.

He only heard a wheezing sound.

He knelt down beside the fallen figure. He reached for the neck to feel for a pulse, there was one. Then he stopped.

"What do I do now?" He questioned himself. His thoughts were going into overdrive. The materia.

New drive and inspiration filled him as he opened the black velvet bag and spilled the contents onto the ground. He knelt down to get the right type that he needed. He picked up the restore materia.

He held the materia up.

"Wait," he said to himself, "Restore will only work if he is conscious," he corrected himself and put the restore materia into his pocket, and picked up the revive materia.

He held the revive materia up. He then thought about his target and finally concentrated on the small green orb.

The revive materia glowed to life. He felt a warm breeze blow from underneath him that lifted his coat and hair. His arms felt like that they had a mind of their own as they moved skyward then thrust forward. At the same time, a green glow emitted from him and then it faded away in a series of shock waves.

The fallen figure in front on him began to light up in a glittery shower that was accompanied by a small angel. Then the small angel retreated into no where from which it came.

"Uh…" The figure was waking up.

"Don't move, you had a nasty fall," he was searching in his pockets, "Stay still, okay?" He found the restore materia, and repeated his actions the he did with the revive materia.

Cloud did try to move to see who it was, but instantly he felt a sharp pain in his chest. It was clear to him that he broke something. Cloud only saw a green glow appear in waves. Then he saw that he was surrounded by another glittering green light. Cloud felt his chest knit together as well as he heard a couple of cracks and pops in the process, next he felt his right wrist do the same and finally his right leg. He felt suddenly warm and refreshed, like if he was waking up from a good night's sleep. Then the green light faded, and the cold air that was there all along began to take over.

Cloud sat up and moved his wrist. It felt fine. He then took a deep breath. There was no pain. Cloud began to stand up. He suddenly found another face that was too close to his own. The face was very pale, almost like… a ghost.

Cloud froze. The only thing that he could see was a pair of strange blue-green eyes and a strange white glow that outlined the head and shoulders. Then it spoke with a big smile.

"Hi!" The white figure said with enthusiasm.

The sudden sound of the voice startled Cloud and he screamed.

The scream startled the white figure and it screamed back.

The figure quickly jumped up and began to run away. Cloud stood up as fast as he could but his head on something and fell back down. The figure, on the other hand, tripped on something and fell flat on its face.

"Ow, geez…" Cloud hit his head hard. He began to rub his head, and then he looked up when he heard a soft crying sound.

Cloud stood up slowly, being careful not to hit his head again. The figure seemed to be calming down as he also tried to get you but stopped when he was sitting on his knees. The figure seemed to be stunned.

Cloud decided that it was not a ghost. He figured that if it were a ghost, it would have vanished by now. Cloud started to walk slowly to the figure. The figure looked like a little girl wearing what looked like a lab coat. Cloud was wondering why would a kid have white hair.

The figure looked at him. Cloud made a mistake: It was a boy.

"Uh, sorry. But I thought that you were a ghost," Cloud couldn't think of anything else to say.

The white haired boy sighed in relief and smiled, "That's okay."

Cloud walked over to the boy and offered his hand.

The boy accepted the gesture, "Thank you." He grabbed Cloud's hand to get up.

Both of them starred at each other in silence. Then the boy looked up the stairs.

"What happened to you?" He asked. Things like this didn't happen everyday.

"It's a very long story," Cloud looked around, "Where are we?"

"We are in a secret place, that's underground," the boy was dusting himself off.

"Underground?" Cloud looked up, "You mean, we are underneath the Shin-ra Mansion?"

"Shin-ra Mansion? Is that what you call that house?" He has never heard it referred to as that.

"Yeah," Cloud was still looking up.

"What are you called?" He quietly asked.

"Huh?" Cloud looked at him. He was not playing attention.

"Your name. What is your name?"

"I'm sorry. I should've told you sooner. It's Cloud. What's yours?"

"Seph," the boy said.

"Seph? That's an unusual name," Cloud mused.

"Seph is my nickname, my full name is long and I think that it sounds kinda dumb," Seph shrugged.

"I bet that it's not as dumb as mine," Cloud offered.

"Nah," Seph shook his head, then added, "But at least it has a cool meaning."

"What's that?" Cloud urged.

"It means, 'God-like child,'" Seph replied.

Cloud looked at him. What kind of name with a meaning like that sounds so dumb?

"My name just means a cloud. Like the ones in the sky. But really, what is you name?" Cloud really wanted to know.

Seph opened his mouth but before he could speak both of them heard shouting from upstairs.

"I wonder who's that?" Seph said.

Cloud quietly listened to the voices, then he identified them.

"It's just Devin and Jonas," Cloud announced.

"Who?" Seph looked clueless.

"Two of the mayor's sons. They think that they are all high and mighty," Cloud explained.

"Oh…" Seph nodded in comprehension. "Then who was it that wanted to kill you?"

"Devin," Cloud grumbled.

The shouting got louder. Cloud was very curious about what was going on up there.

"Let's take a look," Seph spoke his mind and started to walk up the stairs.

Cloud followed, but stopped to look down at where he fell. His backpack was still there, but he could see that some of his stuff spilled out everywhere. He felt a sudden shiver race up his spine. He really didn't want to think about how he got there. He looked up and found that Seph was waiting for him. Cloud continued to walk up the stairs, but he stayed very close to the wall.

Seph easily found the peephole. Sure enough, it was Devin and Jonas.

"What do you mean he vanished?" Jonas was scolding Devin.

"Like I said, he just vanished," Devin was straining to speak. He had his arm against his chest.

"How? Can you tell me that?" Jonas was having an anxiety attack.

"All I know is that one second the little shit threw this brick at me and then you came running in," Devin looked like he was in a lot of pain.

"He couldn't have ran out, 'cause if he did, he would've ran into me," Jonas was giving Devin an attitude problem.

"What are you saying? That he is still here but hiding?" Devin was watching Jonas look under the bed.

Jonas paused, and then stood up.

"Devin, give me the gun," Jonas ordered.

"No. Why don't you give me the ammo," Devin was not giving up the gun.

"Why? So you can kill him?" Jonas was very angry.

Devin said nothing. Even he had trouble believing what he could have done.

"Give me the gun," Jonas said again.

"No way," Devin took a step back.

Cloud had trouble believing his own ears. Jonas willing to beat Devin up to get a gun back so that Devin couldn't kill him, of all people? Nah, Cloud knew Jonas had an ulterior motive of trying to cover it up so that they couldn't get into trouble. Still, Cloud had second thoughts about Jonas.

From another peephole, Cloud saw Jonas start to wrestle with Devin. Although Devin was hurt, Jonas was no match for him.

A wicked and cruel thought came across Cloud's mind, and he couldn't help but smile. Goose bumps formed in his skin. He would never have this opportunity ever again. Cloud looked over to his newfound friend. It looked like he had the same idea too, when Seph looked over to Cloud at the same time he did.

Seph was grinning ear to ear and nodded to Cloud that he was ready. Cloud raised up his hand and did a silent count to three.

Two separate voices joined as one to produce a heart-stopping scream. The voices echoed with in the stairway and it was amplified by the air ducts that were literally everywhere.

Devin and Jonas stopped fighting and made a mad dash out the door. It was worse than the first scream that Jonas heard when he came in and thought it was just Devin screaming. Jonas picked up the gun that Devin dropped. Jonas couldn't believe his ears when he heard what sounded like Cloud screaming "help me." What did Devin do? Did he really kill Cloud? Is Cloud's ghost going to haunt the Shin-ra Mansion too?

Jonas started to run at full speed when he heard that same voice scream out, "I'm going to get you for this!" Jonas slammed open the front door to leave and caught up with Devin. When they ran past the gates, they ran into their father, Joe, Cloud's mother and several other people of Nibleheim. They were officially, busted.

****

Part Four:

The pair raced down the stairs, giggling all the way. Seph took the lead and eventually had to lean against the wall. He was getting dizzy from running in circles like that. Cloud began to slow down. Seph was still giggling but Cloud kept on slowing down. Seph continued to giggle but Cloud had trouble smiling.

Seph stopped giggling when he saw Cloud's glum mood and he slowed to a stop.

"Are you okay?" Seph couldn't understand what was wrong.

They had reached the bottom of the stairway and Cloud sat down at the bottom of the stairs. Seph sat down next to him.

"What's wrong Cloud?" Seph stared at him.

Could this be real? What's going on? How did I get in here? Cloud started to stare off into the distance while his thoughts were running wild.

Seph waved his hand in front of Cloud's face.

Cloud's thoughts came to an abrupt halt when he saw a blur of motion in front of his face. He looked at Seph and met his eyes.

Cloud's thoughts were spinning into another direction. Who is this kid? He had the strangest shade of blue-green in his eyes when yet another blur of motion caught his attention. The wind was blowing Seph'' hair into his face. Why does he have white hair? Is he really a ghost?

Cloud broke from the staring contest and looked at his bag spilled on the floor. Cloud refused to believe that he could be dead and was trapped inside the Shin-ra Mansion as a ghost. Then he thought that it was way too far fetch and he even felt a little stupid for thinking such a thing. Cloud sighted and faced Seph again. It was time to face realty.

"What happened to me?" Cloud asked.

Seph looked at him.

"I mean, I fell, right? But I'm okay, but my stuff isn't," Cloud trailed off. "Am I… am I…" Cloud couldn't bring himself to finish that question.

"Dead?" Seph finished the question for him. Seph finally understood what was bothering Cloud so much. Seph looked up at the hidden door, then down to where Cloud's bag was laying on the floor. Seph thought about the situation from Cloud's point of view. Seph had to admit to himself that if he didn't know about this place and fell three and a half stories, that he would wonder that if he were dead too. Seph smiled, he was delighted that he had good news to tell Cloud.

Cloud held his breath and waiting for Seph's reply. But Cloud started to worry when he saw Seph smile.

Seph shook his head, "No, you are not dead. You just fell off the stairs because you were leaning against the door when I unlocked it and it flew open. That's all."

"Then why do I feel fine?" Cloud stood up and walked over to his bag.

Seph walked beside him.

"I used the materia," Seph used the word 'materia' as if it was an everyday word.

"Materia? What's that?" Cloud had no clue what Seph was talking about.

Seph slapped himself. He had forgotten that it was top secret, and was not allowed to tell anyone about it.

"I'm sorry. I'm allowed to talk about it. It's top secret."

Cloud looked at him.

"You're joking, right?"

"No, no. I'm serious," Seph rubbed his cheek. He hit himself a little too hard.

"Then, if you can't tell me about it, then can you at least tell me why it's top secret?" Cloud gave up on trying to get useful information out of him.

Seph thought about it. He saw no reason why he couldn't tell Cloud at least that.

"Sure, I can do that." Seph opened his mouth to start but was interrupted by a sudden cold blast. Cloud's sweatshirt provided no protection against that wind anymore than the lab coat that Seph wore.

"Let's go somewhere warmer," Seph suggested.

Cloud started to pick up his bag to inspect it for any damages. He sighted to himself when he saw that left strap was broken, but otherwise everything was still inside. What he thought when he first saw his bag on the ground was that everything that was inside spilled everywhere. However, after a closer examination of the surrounding area he found that what was really on the ground was just some rocks. Then something caught his eye.

Cloud bent down and picked up a small green sphere that had the same strange glow that was in Seph's eyes. Cloud noticed that Seph was also looking on the floor, found and other green sphere picked it up and put it in a small black bag.

"Seph, what's this?" Cloud held up the sphere.

Seph looked over and saw that Cloud found what he was looking for. Now he had to play dumb and not slip up again about this top-secret item that Cloud held in his hand.

`"It's just a marble," Seph lied.

Cloud looked closely at this 'marble.' He wasn't convinced.

Seph stood there. He was getting a little nervous. If Cloud figures out what it is, then he could tell someone else, and he would get in trouble for letting the secret slip out.

Cloud handed the sphere back to Seph.

Another cold blast hit them. It was time to get going. Cloud looked at Seph as if he was asking him which way to go.

"Follow me," Seph instructed and led the way.

Cloud grabbed his bag and hoisted it over his right shoulder. He instantly felt a hot searing shock of pain in his side. The bag fell back onto the ground and Cloud clinched his side. Cloud lost the ability to cry out and all he could do is grit his teeth. Cloud looked up and saw Seph was still walking ahead, he didn't see what just happened.

Seph happened to casually glance over his shoulder and was expecting Cloud to be right next to him. Seph saw that Cloud never took a step forward and gasped when he saw that Cloud was in pain. Seph started to run back to Cloud.

Cloud was concentrating on breathing. The pain in his side was going away. Cloud should have known about this when he felt his side ache while he was screaming to Devin and Jonas.

"Cloud, are you okay?" Seph was getting out of breath.

"Yeah, it's just my side," Cloud stood up right slowly, his side still hurt, but at least it was bearable. "I guess that I should have never tried to pick up my bag like that."

Seph nodded and picked up his bag.

"Geez, this thing is heavy, what did you put in here, lead bricks?" Seph was being sarcastic, but the bag was a little heavy.

Cloud giggled, "Nope, just the necessitates for survival."

Seph hoisted the bag over his own shoulder and continued to lead the way to the library.

Cloud followed, but he had to walk slowly.

For some weird reason, Cloud was glad that he was hurting. If he was dreaming, he would have waken up by now, and if he was dead, he was betting that there would be no pain at all. He was relived that he was very much alive, and this is reality whether he liked it or not. His dilemma was over.

Seph had a dilemma of his own. Should he make Cloud swear to never say a word about the materia so he can cast cure on him again, or should he say nothing and let Cloud suffer?

Cloud tried his best to keep up with Seph but had to settle for a slow pace. He saw Seph open a door at the end of the tunnel. The light spilled into the tunnel, which made it easier to see where he was going.

Seph put Cloud's bag on the inside of the door way when Cloud finally caught up with him.

Cloud couldn't believe what he saw. Why would there be a secret laboratory hidden here? He could understand if it was hidden somewhere else like in the capital city of Midgar or in the city of Junion with it's big harbor. Anywhere in a big city, buy not in a small town like Nibleheim. Why would there be a secret laboratory doing here anyway? Maybe it was some kind of biological weapons research. Then why would Seph be here? Could it be that Seph is some kind of engineered superhuman, or some kind of freaky mutation?

"What is this place?" Cloud was still in awe.

"It's a research facility," Seph stated the obvious.

"I know, but why is it here?" Cloud took a step froward.

"It's for researching and curing a very rare illness," Seph revealed to Cloud all that he knew about why.

"Rare illness? Is that why you're here?" Cloud was starting to put the pieces together.

"Yes," Seph replied.

"What kind of illness is it?"

"You know about the tunnels in the Nibel Mountains?"

Cloud did know about the tunnels. Sometimes he would go there alone to explore them. There was a natural phenomenon in the mountains. A Makou fountain. The fountain made the tunnels glow with life. In places where the sunlight never reaches, the most beautiful plants and animals would thrive there. It never felt like a cave, more like and isolated biosphere.

Seph continued. "Well, before I was born, there was an exhibition to study the Makou fountains, but there was an attack by some kind of mutated creature. Nobody was badly hurt or anything but my mom was scratched up by it."

"…And your mom caught some kind of disease and it was passed on to you," Cloud made a guess.

"Or so I'm told."

Cloud liked his superhuman theory better.

"Where is your mom now?" Cloud was looking at the glass cylinders.

Seph looked to the ground, "Um, she died."

"Sorry," Cloud felt bad for asking him.

Seph shrugged. It didn't bother him.

"Hey, what are those big tubes for?" Cloud pointed at those cylinders.

"They found that I get a little better through Makou therapy, so I have to go inside those tubes," Seph hated talking about that.

"Isn't that dangerous? I mean, Makou is a form of radiation, or so I heard," Cloud thought that it was pretty dumb to poison someone like that.

"I wish other people thought about it that way," Seph bitterly stated.

Cloud walked away from the equipment.

"I think that we should change the subject," Cloud thought that Seph wanted to hear that.

Seph looked up and smiled, "Okay. About what?"

Cloud shrugged.

"Are you thirsty?" Seph had a new subject to talk about.

"Yeah, what do you got?" Cloud played along.

"Um… let's see. Well we got the usual, water, and what ever is on that table over there," Seph looked over Cloud's shoulder.

Cloud glanced over to the table, "No way! I think that something moved in that blue one."

Seph saw it too, "That's nasty! It looks like snot!"

Cloud walked to the table. The blue contents in the beaker moved again. "Uh, it smells funny too."

Seph walked to the other side of the table

"I wonder what that clear yellow stuff would do to this blob?" Cloud watched the blob moved again.

Seph looked at the test tube rack beside him. He pointed at the closest one to him, "This one?"

"No, the one on the other end," Cloud jumped back when the blob moved toward him.

Seph picked up the test tube on the far end. It was filled with warm yellow liquid that glowed a little and it had some kind of fog spilling out all over Seph's hand. Seph then walked around the table and was holding the test tube over the blob.

"What do you think will happen?" Seph liked this game.

"Um, I think that it will turn green," Cloud thought about the colors.

"Hmm…I think that it will get mad," Seph thought about how he would he feel if something strange was spilled on him, but then again, he was joking around.

Cloud scratched his head, "Yeah. That too."

"Let's find out!" Seph was grinning.

"What are you, crazy?" Cloud was reacting naturally.

"Why? As if it would explode or something?"

"You never know."

Cloud had a point and Seph was pulling the test tube back.

Suddenly there was a loud boom that startled Cloud and made Seph jump and accidentally spill the transparent yellow liquid into the baker.

Cloud ran over to the door that flung open and produced that loud boom sound, and closed it.

"Stupid door," Cloud turned around to Seph.

Seph was walking slowly.

Cloud saw the empty test tube in Seph's hand. One word came across his mind.

The blob did turn green, and it bubbled violently. Then it stopped moving. The two of them sighed in relief.

However that moment of relaxation was ver short lived when the baker began to crack and the blob inside was turning red.

"Shit," Seph whispered.

That was what Cloud thought a moment ago.

Both watched in shock as the beaker wobbled its way to the edge of the table and it fell to the floor where it shattered into several pieces. The blob was beginning to take shape, and it emanated a low growling sound.

Seph grabbed Cloud's arm and pulled him towards the door. Then dragged Cloud behind a bookcase that was parallel to the wall, which created a makeshift hallway.

Cloud started to run with Seph when Seph let go of his arm. Seph lead the way. Cloud's side was hurting worse than ever, but he kept running in fear of letting whatever that thing was to get him.

Seph took an abrupt right into a real hallway and ran to the door at the far end. Cloud followed Seph into the room and slammed the door behind him.

Cloud was guessing that it was Seph's bedroom.

"Oh man, what am I going to do now?" Seph was pacing back and forth in the middle of the room.

Cloud saw that every clear area on the walls was covered in posters. Cloud even saw them on the ceiling.

Seph was mumbling to himself and pacing faster. He didn't notice that the black velvet bag that he was carrying fall out of his picket and that Cloud picked it up from the floor.

Cloud continued to walk around Seph's room. He was trying to figure out what to do as well. He looked at the dresser. None of the items on the dresser proved to be useful, but a small can that said 'polishing wax' caught his attention and he picked it up to read the label. 'For use on the blades of daggers and swords to bring out a beautiful shine.'

"Is this yours?" Cloud showed the can to Seph.

"Yeah," Seph's voice sounded hopeless as he was sitting on the edge of the bed, looking down. "I do some fencing and I collect swords…" Seph looked up at Cloud and he cracked a smile, he had an idea.

Cloud caught on, and put the can back on the dresser. Seph got up and opened a trunk that was sitting at the end of the bed.

"Cloud, have you ever used a sword before?" Seph was pulling everything out of the trunk and putting it anywhere on the floor.

"No," Cloud opened the small black bag. He found four glowing spheres inside. He wanted to test a theory. "Um… do you think that this materia can help us out?" Cloud was very careful not to stress 'materia.'

"Only for defense, but…" Seph stopped, "Uh-oh."

Cloud got him, and he tossed the bag back to Seph.

"How did you figure it out?" Seph was getting defensive.

"I think it was when I picked one of them up, and you told me that it was a marble. Marbles don't glow like that, but then again your eyes glow in the same way too," Cloud told Seph his reasoning.

Seph turned back to the trunk.

"How can it help us? What does it do?" Cloud was becoming aggressive.

Seph shot a look at him.

"Sorry, but I think that I have a right to know," Cloud was backing down.

There was a loud crashing sound from outside and Seph let out a sigh.

"If I tell you," Seph was hating this, "then you know that you can't even breathe a word about it."

"I know, I promise. I won't say anything. Kinda like this place, I can't say anything about it either," Cloud paused, "Besides, who's going to believe me anyway?"

Something inside Seph clicked and he became instantly cooperative.

"Pick a sword," Seph laid out three on the bed.

Cloud walked over to look at the swords. There was another crashing sound.

"Materia lets a person use magic," Seph started.

This statement surprised Cloud.

"How does it work? I don't know, but each orb of materia has a specific use. They look the same, but if you look at it for a second, it will tell you what it does."

"The materia talks to you?" Cloud wasn't quite clear about that.

"Not really, it is more like a thought, it tells you that way," Seph pulled out an orb in front of Cloud's face, "Can you tell me what it is?"

Cloud looked at it. The word 'antidote' came to mind, "I dunno, it cures poison?"

"Right, it called heal. It cures poison," Seph pulled out the others, "This one is barrier, it protects you physical attacks for a short time, it can also protect you from magic attacks but we would have to use it for a while so it can grow and get stronger. But it can only protect from physical attacks right now," Seph continued, "These last two are revive and restore. Revive kind in a way, 'revives' someone from unconsciousness, but not from the dead. And restore…"

"Restore cures people from injuries. I think that you used that on me," Cloud finished.

"Right. Now let me tell you how to use it."

There was a loud roar from the other side of the door. Cloud was getting jumpy. Seph, on the other hand, was somehow calm.

"All you have to do, is think about your target, it can even be yourself, and then concentrate on the materia. Just don't concentrate on it too hard."

"That's it?" Cloud found it hard to believe that it was that simple.

"There this one catch. Every time that you use it, it will drain a small piece of you. It's kinda like an attention span. Once its gone, it's gone, and you will get tired," Seph warned.

"How do you get it back?" Cloud asked.

"There are ways, but getting some rest is the sure-fire way."

Cloud picked up a sword. It was the lightest of all of them. The length seemed to be about right for his height. He removed it from its sheath. It was a simple but solid blade. Its width was about three inches, and the blade was as long as his arm. He had to admit that it was small sword, but it was the only one that he was sure that he could handle without becoming clumsy.

Seph grabbed his own sword from under the bed. He smiled at it. It was clear that this was Seph's favorite. Seph unsheathed it. His sword was about one and a half times longer than the one Cloud chose. Cloud saw that the handle on Seph's sword had an elaborate pattern with gold trim against black leather. Cloud looked at the handle of his sword. It was also simple in design, but at least it had a comfortable grip. Cloud also noticed two empty slots in the handle.

"Here," Seph tossed two orbs of materia at Cloud.

Seph was standing right next to Cloud when he tossed that materia at him, that catching both of them was easy.

Cloud looked at his materia. He was pretty sure that he had barrier and heal.

"You see those empty slots in the handle?" Seph was actually pointing at the slots themselves. "Put the materia in there, so that it will be easier to use instead of digging into your pockets."

Cloud did what he was told.

"So what's your plan?" Cloud was getting used to the sword.

"Uh, I haven't thought about that yet," Seph was hoping that Cloud would come up with a plan.

There was another crashing sound.

"We'll come up with something. Let's go," Seph opened the door.

"Well, at least it's two against one," Cloud was trying to be optimistic.

"And armed," Seph added.

They left the room without saying another word. Cloud turned off the lights and closed the door behind him. Old habits die hard.

Seph peeked around the bookcase. He saw a small creature slowly crawling around to check out its surroundings. It was a red fiery color with fuzzy spikes that matched Cloud's hair. It looked harmless, almost cute until it stood up and yawned, revealing it's fangs and claws. There was some movement from behind the creature. The red creature made a calm shrieking noise to welcome a companion. The second was about the size of a large dog just like the first one, except this one was purple and bald. Before Seph turned back, he saw that the purple creature had the same fangs and claws as the red one. So much for two against one.

"Well?" Cloud whispered anxiously.

"There's two of them," Seph was barely above a whisper.

Cloud let out an exaggerated sigh. "So what do we do now?"

Seph took another look. It looked like the red creature found something to eat and the purple creature was trying to take it away from him.

The red creature retaliated by casting a spell of some kind, which made the purple creature screech out in pain.

The purple creature in turn, used brute force to counter attack. The red creature staggered back and the purple creature moved in to enjoy its prize.

"It looks like one of them is a magic user and the other is a fighter," Seph turned back to Cloud.

Cloud was not used to this kind of thinking, "So what do we do? You take one and I take one?"

"No," Seph shook his head. This situation reminded him of those tactical analysis tests that he considered to be a waste of time. He always thought that he would never have a use for it, but now, it seemed to be the best way to figure out a solution.

"We need to take out the magic user first, because it could cure it self and its friend," Seph decided to what to do first.

Cloud reached around Seph and took a peek himself.

"They seem hungry," Cloud observed.

"Hmm…" Seph was looking off into the distance, letting his mind work itself into a confused knot. He crossed his left arm over his chest to support his right elbow, and let his chin rest on the index finger and thumb of his partially closed right hand. This posture seemed to help him think.

The solution seemed clear to Cloud when he spotted his bag just outside of arms reach by the door. He picked up a book that was lying by its feet and looked carefully to pinpoint where the creatures are.

"Which one is the fighter?" Cloud whispered to Seph.

"The purple one," Seph was still in thought.

Cloud threw the book like a frisbee to land somewhere near the purple creature. The purple creature ran after the book to show it who's boss. The red creature turned its back to Cloud.

Cloud darted over to his bag and dragged it back unnoticed. Seph just realized what Cloud did and waited silently to learn what Cloud had in mind. Seph then casually lowered his arms when he realized that he was mimicking one of Hojo's gestures.

Cloud pulled out a candy bar from the front pocket.

"I think this will work to lure it," Cloud smiled.

Seph smiled back. He liked Cloud's idea. He immediately looked around the corner while Cloud opened the candy bar.

"Man, that purple little guy is tough. He's still tearing at that book," Seph was wondering about how to get to that one.

Cloud broke off a piece and looked around Seph. Seph looked down at Cloud and nodded. Seph readjusted his grip on the sword.

Cloud tossed out a piece and it hit the red creature. It spun around and spotted Cloud and Seph. Cloud quickly tossed out another piece.

The red creature carefully looked at the object that was thrown at its feet. It eyed the object carefully and sniffed it. Finally the creature tasted it and found out the it was edible.

The purple creature was still busy tearing up the book.

The red creature moved a few steps forward to another piece. Little by little it moved to the wall, and it became excited to find a very big piece all for himself and began to eat it. The red creature then heard an unfamiliar verbal sound, then a flash of light the felt cold. It had no idea what hit him.

Seph got up from his one knee and pulled his sword out from the creature. Cloud kinda felt sorry for the creature and walked around to the other side. He made sure that he brought his sword with him.

The red creature opened one eye at Cloud and let out a pitiful whelp. Cloud only saw a bright flash as Seph's sword bit into the creature once more.

Cloud looked down at the fallen creature. He saw bright yellow hairs fall upon the creature. Cloud quickly rubbed his hand through his own hair. Cloud didn't like the idea that Seph's sword was so close to his face like that.

There was no time to complain. The cry from the red creature alerted the other creature that there was trouble. The purple creature glared at Cloud and Seph with pure hatred.

Seph froze. He was sure that the purple creature spotted him first. The purple creature charged at both of them with a loud roar.

"Split up!" Seph shouted and darted to the left of the charging creature.

Cloud jumped to the right.

Seph ran as fast as he could toward the glass cylinders. However, the purple creature was faster than Seph anticipated. The purple creature managed to grab hold of Seph's long white hair and jerked him back. The child fell and the creature was attacking.

Cloud started to move to help out Seph when something unexpected grabbed his foot and Cloud fell flat on his face.

The red creature was still alive and was ready to get his revenge. Cloud didn't think, he just lifted the sword that Seph loaned him and swung at the red creature.

There was a strange sound that Cloud heard but he disregard it. Then there was a black swirling vortex the blurred Cloud's vision. Cloud didn't realize that he was just attacked by some kind of gravity spell. Cloud's vision quickly returned, and by then his sword was deep inside the creature's throat.

Cloud kicked the creature away and stood up. His mind was on trying to help out Seph as soon as possible.

With one fierce kick, Seph managed to break free of the purple creature's vicious hold. Seph scrambled back onto his feet. He saw Cloud coming to help out, but he also saw a sickening green flash around Cloud and he stumbled to the ground. Seph looked at the culprit, the red creature.

It used poison as its final attack.

The purple creature lunged at Seph again. Seph dodged with ease and the creature crashed into the bookcase.

"Cloud, you've been poisoned, use that heal materia!" Seph swung his sword at the purple creature but missed.

That explained a lot to Cloud. He couldn't figure out why he felt sick suddenly. Cloud looked at the handle of his sword and found the heal materia.

Seph took another swing at the purple creature and missed again. The purple creature counter attacked with a strong slap that knocked Seph into another bookcase. Then the purple creature ran in to attack again while Seph was still stunned.

There was a sudden white flash and it repelled the creature's attack. Seph was back on his feet again.

Cloud felt better, but extremely tired. He ignored his tired ness long enough to use barrier for a second time. Then there was that same warmness that recharged him. The green glittering light faded and Cloud lunged at the purple creature with a direct hit.

The purple creature slapped Cloud and he swung at it again. Seph backed away to cast cure on himself, but nothing happened.

The creature slapped Seph again. The barrier held, but Seph still felt the sharp sting. Cloud jumped at the creature with a devastating blow.

Cloud showed no mercy and kept attacking the creature. The purple creature roared and rammed Cloud into one of the cylinders. Cloud kicked the creature away. He can feel that his aggression was rising into a fury.

The purple creature attacked Cloud. The barrier was gone, and Cloud's anger was reaching levels that he couldn't understand.

Finally, Cloud reached his limit. There was a bright orange-red explosion of light, and Cloud glared at his target. He firmly griped his sword and ran at the creature at full speed. Then he leapt high into the air and swung the sword down at a pernatural speed and strength. The instant that he landed, he dodged back, waiting for the next attack.

Seph appeared from behind the creature. The creature stopped moving. Seph poked it with his sword. It was dead.

"I didn't know that it was possible for kids to have limit breaks like that," Seph limped over to Cloud.

"Only if they are constantly threatened and have to fight to defend themselves," Cloud was out of breath.

"Are you always threatened and have to fight like that?"

"You can say that. That's why I'm here," Cloud lowered the sword.

Seph remembered the two boys that they scared. "Does it have something to do with Jonas and," He couldn't recall the second name.

"Devin," Cloud reminded him.

"Whatever," Seph shrugged.

Cloud smiled, Seph just pointed out on how important they really are. Then his knees suddenly buckled and Cloud fell on his butt, his back was resting against some equipment.

Seph kept moving towards Cloud with a limp and let himself sigh as he sat next to Cloud.

"Man, I'm beat!" Seph yawned.

"Yeah," Cloud yawned as well then he looked at Seph's ankle. It was beginning to swell up.

"Are you going to use the materia to take care of that?" Cloud was concerned.

"I tried, but I couldn't get it to work after I used cure on you again," Seph was closing his eyes.

"Then let me try," Cloud felt that he needed to return the favor.

Seph immediately handed over the materia. 

Cloud took a deep breath and thought about Seph's ankle while concentrating on the materia. There was faint flicker of light, then there was no response. Cloud tried again, but had to give up when his head started to hurt.

"Sorry, I guess that I'm tapped out," Cloud handed back the materia.

Seph had a better idea.

"Do you see those weird looking bottles over there?" Seph pointed towards the door.

"No," Cloud didn't really know what to look for.

"Walk on over there and I'll tell you if you're getting close."

Cloud got up and walked towards the door. He saw some bottles of some common medicine to the right of the doorway.

"You mean the potions?"

"Yeah. Go ahead and get one for yourself, too."

"Are you sure?" Cloud didn't want to impose.

"Why?"

"Potions are a little expensive, they are about 50 gil each," Cloud memorize the price because he was usually sent to the store to get some for Ms. Lockheart.

"Yikes, I didn't know that they were that much!" Seph never thought about the price.

Cloud picked up only one bottle.

"Go ahead and get one for yourself anyway. I don't think that they are going to notice."

"Really?"

"Yeah. Think, Cloud. You see all of this equipment here? It's all paid for by the government and your parents pay taxes, right? So I don't think that it really matters if you take one or not."

"True. So I guess that I'll take one," Cloud read the labels. "Do you want mint flavor, or black cherry?"

"Black cherry," Seph didn't think twice.

Cloud grabbed a black cherry flavored potion and a mint one for himself. He walked back to where Seph was sitting but he had to step over some debris and two dead creatures.

"Thanks," Seph was grateful for the small favor.

Cloud eased down beside Seph.

"Do you think that they would get mad because I'm here?" Cloud was referring to the scientists who work here.

"I think that they would be more upset about the mess than you being here," Seph opened his bottle.

"Are you going to get in trouble?" Cloud opened his bottle too.

"I've done worse things than this. The most punishment that I get is that they don't let me go out with them to get supplies."

"And where are they now?" Cloud took a sip.

Seph chuckled to himself, "Out getting supplies."

"So you are already in trouble?"

"No, not really. It's just too cold outside and they are afraid that I'll get sick," Seph took a taste.

Cloud banged his head against the cylinder that he was leaning against on purpose, "Gee, I wonder why."

Seph smiled. He was glad that he found someone that sympathized with him, "Yeah I'll drink to that. I always wondered about that too!"

Cloud raised his bottle and collided it with Seph's bottle and took a big gulp.

"Yuck, I wish that these things didn't taste so chalky!" Cloud made a face.

Seph felt a shiver run down his spine. He had to make himself swallow or he would have ended up spitting it out everywhere. He made a face that more dramatic than Cloud's.

"This is gross! I wish that I got mint!" Seph stuck out his tongue.

"Then why didn't you?" Cloud made himself take another sip.

"Because I never had it before and I wanted to try it." Seph stared at his bottle, then took a sip. "Well at least it works," Seph felt another shiver go up his spine.

"So… how long will it be before they come back?"

"When they go out for supplies, they usually get back at about five in the morning, but they are getting somebody new, so they will most likely be back at about ten."

"Why so long?"

"To get to know everyone, to be briefed about what's going on, and to have their things moved here."

"You mean that the scientists live down here too?"

"Mm-hmm," Seph nodded and took the last sip.

"Whoa, all this time? It's amazing that no one in town knows about it."

"Until now," Seph looked at Cloud.

"Me?" Cloud was playing dumb in a mocking manner, "Know what? I know nothing!"

Both of them chuckled and calmed down.

"You know, you are the first person from the town above to be in here," Seph tossed the bottle aside.

"Why is this place kept secret?"

"I really have no idea. I even asked that and they won't give me a strait answer."

"Why don't you just run away?" Cloud took another sip.

"And where would I go? I have no one out there, and if I did, the government would just send their troops after me again."

"Again? You mean that you've tried before?"

Seph hugged his knees in a protective manner and nodded.

"That sucks." Cloud then thought of something, "Hey, I know! You can hide at my house, or maybe we could run away together."

"Why do you want to run away?" Seph appreciated the thought, but he wanted to know why.

"Because…" Cloud couldn't find the right words. "It's everything. I just want to get away."

"Would it have to do with that moron who wanted to shoot you and his wuss for a brother?"

"That about sums it up," Cloud tossed his bottle aside, but he didn't finish drinking it.

"Can you tell me what happened?"

"I already said that it's a very long story."

"I know, but please tell me."

"You really want to know, huh?"

Seph nodded.

"…It all started about five…" Cloud started.

"No, tell me everything. Not just what happened today," Seph interrupted.

Cloud looked at Seph. Cloud thought back to a time when everything was a blur, but knew that Devin and his brothers were there, Tifa, Johnny and everybody else were there too.

"Where do I begin?" Cloud wondered.

"Any where. Just start talking."

Cloud told Seph everything about his life. How he met Devin and Jonas, how the bulling got started, his friendships with Tifa and Johnny, his adventures exploring the Nibel mountains, and even about his mom too.

****

Part Five:

"You know what?" Your life sucks," Seph blurted.

"Thanks for being so caring," Cloud's voice was cracking.

Seph handed Cloud a can of soda from Cloud's backpack. Cloud had to take a quick breather while telling his story so that Seph could get up and retrieve Cloud's bag. It was a convenient excuse to test out his ankle.

Seph rooted through Cloud's bag to get another can of soda until he found a strange black cartridge. He then found a second cartridge. He took bits of them out of the bag to get a better look. It turned out that these two cartridges were really two halves of a bigger cartage. Seph didn't have to put the pieces together. He knew what it was.

"Uh-oh…" Seph put the pieces together anyway to show Cloud what he found.

"What?" Cloud was getting tired.

Seph let the pieces fall into his hands.

"Oh man! I just got that game earlier today, I didn't even have a chance to play it yet."

Seph read the label, "Consider yourself lucky. That game sucks, you should demand a refund."

Cloud was too tired to get upset. He'll react later.

Seph stood up.

"So, where do you want to go?" Seph was wide-awake.

"Go?" Cloud stretched. He had forgotten about the pain in his side.

"You said that we should run away together, right? So where do we go?"

"You're serious," Cloud stood up.

"Like a heart attack. I wanna get out of this place. This isn't my home, it's a prison, and I didn't do anything wrong!" Seph was getting upset thinking about his present situation of isolation again.

Cloud almost said "yes," but he thought about his mother.

"Please, I'm begging you. Come with me, I can't survive on my own," Seph was trying to take advantage of this opportunity.

"What about my mom? She's the only family I got."

"There's nothing wrong about writing her."

Cloud was silent. He looked around then looked at Seph, who looked back at him with his desperate eyes. If he did run away with Seph, it will help him escape this hell, and if they stayed together, then they can survive. Cloud even thought that some day, he could return home after he made sure that Seph was safe.

Cloud nodded and extended his hand for a bargain handshake, "I'll do it."

Seph didn't shake Cloud's hand, but instead gave him a very big hug.

"Thank you," his voice was cracking and he was beginning to cry softly. "I feel like that you just saved my life."

"You should pack some things," Cloud patted Seph's back.

"Right. I should do that," Seph calmed himself down.

Cloud followed Seph to his room.

"I think that we should do something about your hair, Seph," Cloud figured that Seph could easily stick out in a crowd.

"No way, I'm not cutting my hair! It would be like you getting a buzz cut just to get rid of your spikes."

Cloud didn't think about that. "That is not what I meant. What I meant was…normal kids don't have white hair."

"What? I'm not normal?" Seph was amused.

Cloud opened his mouth to speak.

Seph pointed at him. "Don't even answer that."

Cloud smiled. Then he remembered the sword that was loaned to him, "I think that you want this back now," Cloud removed the materia.

"Keep it," Seph was packing his own bag.

"What?" Cloud wanted to be sure.

"Keep it, and the materia too. We're gonna need it," Seph put on a navy blue turtleneck sweater.

"Thanks," Cloud liked the idea of owing a sword.

Seph finished packing and handed Cloud the sheath so Cloud could carry his sword safely. Seph grabbed the sheath for his own sword and opened the door.

"That was quick."

"Yea, well, I was planing on running away again and I already figured out what I needed. I even decided on where I wanna go," Seph didn't want to turn back.

"Where?" Cloud was following Seph to the door to exit the library.

"Midgar. Where else? We can hide in the slums, get jobs and because it's a very big city…"

"It will be harder to catch us," Cloud finished.

"Right. Let's go," Seph put his hand on the doorknob.

"Wait. What about money? I only have 40 gil," Cloud was suddenly glad that he kept his money in his pocket all this time.

"I saved up 720 gil. I have it hidden in one of the rooms."

"That much? How did you get the money?" Cloud raised and eyebrow.

"The scientists always leave their pocket change laying around. I simply swipe it."

"You stole it?"

"Well, I had to, there was no other way for me to get money."

"Ok, I'm ready," Cloud took a deep breath.

Seph opened the door and Cloud walked out. Seph had to take one last look at the world he knew.

"I'm sorry Ms. Jean, but we won't be able to go to Gold Saucer together," he whispered to himself.

With a heavy heart, He closed the door behind him. He didn't realize how much he would miss her.

Cloud walked slowly so that Seph could catch up. Seph was silent. That was okay, Cloud didn't feel like talking anyway. Cloud as Seph unlocked the hidden door and both of them entered the master bedroom of the Shin-ra Mansion. The secret door closed behind them with a soft click.

"I hid the money in the guest bedroom," Seph lead the way.

"We still need to do something about your hair," Cloud wanted to think ahead.

"Un-huh. There is no way that I'm cutting my hair or dyeing it," Seph was touchy when it came to his hair.

"No, I was thinking that your wear a hat and put your hair in a ponytail so you can hide it."

"But I don't have a hat."

Cloud slapped himself on the forehead. "I give up."

Seph chuckled. He found that he loved annoying Cloud.

Seph saw a small blown out hole in the wall. Cloud saw two more. Seph knew better than to not say anything about it, Cloud looked like that he didn't want to talk about it anymore, so Seph pretended that he didn't notice.

The broken windows from the first floor let the air to circulate all the way to the top of the stairway. Seph stopped to stretch and yawn. Then he had to take a moment to enjoy the view. Although it was just the interior of the Shin-ra Mansion, the outside light from the early morning sun was a very rare sight for Seph. Then again, Seph didn't see sunlight often. Then he smiled. The idea of being free was becoming intoxicating.

Cloud watched his friend's reaction in silence. He was glad that he could help him, but he didn't want to leave everything that he knew behind, but Cloud somehow felt obligated to help out Seph in every way possible. Cloud told himself that he wasn't running away, but going to have an adventure.

Seph forced himself back into reality and continued to lead Cloud into the guest bedroom. It was obvious that Seph had been in this room several times. The only thing that Cloud was interested in was the twin beds that were in the room. Seph walked in between the two beds, and then crawled under the bed to the left that was resting in the corner of the room.

Cloud sat on the other bed and couldn't stop himself from yawning. Cloud looked down to the floor when he heard the wood creak from underneath him. He then saw one of the floor boards move a little. Seph must have hidden his money there.

Cloud yawned again. A familiar warmness and extreme comfort began to over take him, but he only had enough time to blink once. Then his peacefulness and tranquility came to an abrupt end when he felt a soft slap all over his face and a thick cloud of dust followed.

"Wake up Cloud, we can sleep later," Seph was hiding his own fatigue better than Cloud.

Cloud was caught off guard and was coughing due to the dust in his lungs. Seph didn't know that the pillow he used to hit Cloud was covered in dust.

"Cloud, are you alright?" The second that Seph asked that, he heard a soft thump and the dust was starting to invade his lungs. Seph didn't breathe in and let himself fall onto the bed that he crawled underneath just a few moments earlier.

Cloud found that his counterattack only brought more dust. Seph had his sleeved arm over his mouth trying to breathe without coughing. Cloud finally stood on the bed so he could breathe more freely.

"Seph, stand on the bed. It's easier to breathe up here."

Seph quickly stood up and the dust was settling down.

Seph looked at Cloud and busted out laughing Cloud started as well. Cloud didn't know what Seph was laughing at, which made Seph laugh even harder. Especially at the white mark on one side of Cloud's face. Seph reached over to touch Cloud's cheek to show him what was so funny.

Cloud's laughing turned into a surprise when he saw Seph's fingertips were covered with white dust that was on Cloud's face. Cloud quickly reached out and scraped the side of Seph's face with the tips of his fingers to show that was the same reason why he was laughing at Seph.

Seph stopped laughing and started to wipe his face clean. Cloud had already cleaned his own face.

Cloud patted on the pillow he used to hit Seph with until it had no more dust. Seph just stood there and looked at him. A smile began form, which gave away what Cloud was planning to do.

Cloud struck first, then Seph. The pillow fight had begun, and both of them didn't care about getting in trouble. After all, they were free. Seph saw Cloud start jumping on the bed and he mimicked him by jumping himself.

Seph never jumped on a bed before and was never involved in a pillow fight either. Seph liked the way the springs inside that mattress seemed to push him higher into the air. He felt like he was flying.

Finally, one of the pillows broke and feathers started to fly everywhere. Seph swung as hard as he could and successfully directly hit Cloud's shoulder. More feathers exploded upon impact.

Seph was surprised on how many feathers spilled out, and he stopped jumping. Cloud was surprised too and started to brush the feathers off. Seph jumped one last time and lifted his legs in front of him so that he would land in a sitting position. Cloud also sat down.

This sudden burst of activity really woke Cloud up. He was excited and full of energy.

Seph gently plucked a feather from Cloud's hair.

"I win!" Seph teased.

"I demand a rematch," Cloud grinned.

Seph grinned and opened his mouth to say something.

"Sephiroth! What are you doing!" An angry voice shouted.

Both of them jumped. Seph became scared suddenly. His worst fear had just became a reality.

"You're early," Seph quickly said. Seph's posture easily showed that he was frightened.

This was not a good sign for Cloud. He knew that something was terribly wrong.

"So, you admit it, you were planning to run away again," the man in the lab coat concluded.

"No Hojo, I swear it! I… I was just helping out this kid who got lost and, and…" Seph was walking toward Hojo while he was pleading with him.

"Shut up, you miserable little brat!" Hojo slapped Seph so hard that the child fell to the floor.

Seph curled up into a little ball on the floor where he fell.

"Seph!" Cloud ran to Seph. Hojo tried to grab him, but failed.

"Are you alright?" Cloud was using his body to protect Seph.

Cloud heard a loud click. He looked up and saw that a gun was pointed at him.

"Who the hell is this?" Hojo demanded an explanation from Seph.

Cloud looked at Hojo defiantly. He was a slender man with thick bottle cap glasses. He had long black hair that was pulled back into a ponytail, yet he still had a few loose hairs that outlined his face. Strangely, Hojo's bangs arched upward in the same way that Seph's hair does.

Hojo forcefully grabbed Cloud's arm, and jerked him away from Seph.

"Ow! Stop it! Let me go!" Cloud shouted.

"Wait, please. Let him go," Seph looked up and begged.

"Oh? This little brat means that much to you?" Hojo was looking for a weak point to finally break Seph.

Cloud bit deep into Hojo's hand. Hojo screamed and released his grip on him. Cloud stumbled away.

"Why are you doing this to him?" Cloud was referring to Seph.

"It's none of your business, boy!" Hojo took a look at his hand and found it dripping with blood.

"Why! Just tell me why?" Cloud shouted.

Cloud looked over at Seph and found a woman helping him up and hugging him in a protective manner.

Hojo glared at this child who dared to stand up to him.

"Is it because he is sick with a very rare disease, yet you torture him as a way to find a cure?"

"Watch your tongue boy!" Hojo growled out his final warning.

"You want to know what I think?" Cloud challenged. "Do you?"

Hojo squinted his eyes at this small child. He was dreading on what he had to say.

"I think that Seph never was sick. That he is just a guinea pig in a sick and twisted experiment so that the government could create a superhuman."

Hojo said nothing, but a nervous twitch came across his face. The other scientist looked at Hojo and began to lower his gun. Jean hugged Seph even harder and looked at Hojo and Vicks. Vicks readjusted his aim and pointed the gun back at Cloud.

"You have a very wild imagination, boy," Hojo mumbled.

Seph stood up. The reaction of Hojo, Vicks, and even Jean seem to stir up his own suspicion that he was forced to keep to himself. It looked like now would be a good time to speak out.

"Is it true?" Seph needed to know.

No body said anything. Cloud looked scared. It was his wild imagination and vivid curiosity that put his life in danger. He knew too much.

"Well is it?" Seph asked again.

"Seph, don't…" Jean tried to quiet him down. She desperately wanted to protect Seph, especially from Hojo's rage should Seph find out the horrible truth of his existence.

Seph suddenly didn't want to know, but he had to in order to insure his survival, even if it meant going insane. Seph jerked his arm away from Jean's gentle grip.

"It is, isn't it?" Seph was beginning to hate himself for not putting the pieces together. All of the clues were there all along. He even dismissed his own speculation as wild imagination, and was always afraid to confront Hojo with his suspicions. Watching Cloud, who was smaller and obviously younger than himself, stand up to Hojo with enough gall to put up a fight with him, gave Seph the strength to make his own stand. Hojo looked at Seph with intense dread. If Seph ever did find out, then Hojo had no choice to terminate this experiment as he was instructed to do before Seph's birth as a fail-safe for the sake of the government known as Shin-ra.

"I think I am going to be sick. That's all I am to everyone? A freaking lab animal? Am I at least human or is it that you don't know?" Seph felt betrayed in the worst way that anybody would ever know.

Jean held her breath. The shame she felt when she found out about Seph when she was assigned to Hojo couldn't be buried within her soul anymore. She looked down to the ground. She couldn't bear to look at Seph anymore. The thought that she still participated in this form of child abuse made her cry silently. 

Then she became afraid for herself and her family. If Hojo even suspected that she was going to defect, then all he had to do was to give her name to the development research division known as the Turks. What happened after that was too gruesome to think about, and there would never be any witnesses, nor survivors.

Seph looked at everyone. He was beginning to panic. Every face he saw seemed to tell him that they knew all along. The only face he saw who was on his side was Cloud's.

Everyone's attention was focused on Seph. Cloud was momentarily forgotten behind them. Cloud was desperately thinking of a way to escape.

The silence was longer than it should be. Seph stood there, staring at his feet. His arms hung loosely along his sides. He didn't know what to say or do, then he saw his own tears fall to the ground. An intense anger and rage began to explode inside his being. He hated everyone, but he hated Hojo the most. The rage became too much for him, even more when he finally figured out who was personally responsible: Hojo.

Seph looked at Hojo. Hojo looked a little surprised when he saw Seph's strange green glowing eyes. They seemed to glow even more than ever.

"**I HATE YOU!**" he screamed at the top of his lungs.

Suddenly, Hojo's head jerked forward and the room was full of blinding dust. Seph only saw Cloud as he bumped into him.

"Run!" Cloud told Seph, and both of them charged out of the room. Cloud ran ahead and paused to see a large muscleman run out of the master bedroom at full speed

Cloud darted down the stairs. Seph wasn't so lucky as this muscle man shoved the palm of his hand into Seph's chest. Seph was down on the ground with the wind knocked out of him. In an instant, Vicks was on top of him, pinning him helplessly to the ground.

"Stop it! Let me go!" Seph cried.

Cloud forced himself from not looking back, if he could tell enough people in town, then everybody could go in and rescue Seph.

The muscle man jumped from the top of the railing and landed on the first floor with a loud thump. Cloud had just reached the bottom of the stairs. He saw his purser take that shortcut in the corner of his eye. Cloud ran as fast as he could, but his body was starting to betray him. It felt like he was slowing down, his chest started to hurt from breathing so hard, and his legs started to burn from the inside out.

The distance between him and the front door was getting shorter and shorter. Suddenly his foot got stuck on something. He just reached the doorframe when he fell. The muscle man was trying desperately to pull him inside while Cloud gripped the doorframe with all of the strength he had left. Cloud started to scream out towards some of the homes that bordered the outside of the plaza. Mainly, his house.

Very quickly, his grip failed and he was pulled back inside. He at least saw a woman run outside of the house and started to run towards the mansion. It was his mother.

"Mom! Help me! There's a secret…" Cloud quickly found his mouth covered by a huge hand. He tried biting, but he couldn't move his jaw either.

"Cloud, where are you? I'm coming!" His mother called back.

Cloud managed to get his mouth free, and cried out, "Mom, it's a government conspiracy, get more help!" Cloud's mouth was covered again.

Cloud lost sight of the front door when he was dragged into the hallway on the second floor that lead to the master bedroom.

Cloud's mother made it to the doorsteps of the Shin-ra mansion. "Cloud, I'm here! Where are you?"

Cloud couldn't cry out again, but he started to kick the wall as hard as he could.

Very quickly, he was pulled away from the wall so it made kicking it impossible. Then it became suddenly dark as he was pulled through the secret door. Hojo quickly locked the door and reinforced it with a metal brace.

Cloud was exhausted, but he still kept fighting.

"My, you have spirit, little one," Hojo said with amusement. Hojo started to smile when he had an idea on how to salvage this situation. And even a blessing in disguise when he figured on how to take this experiment one step further.

"Take him to the lab," Hojo instructed the muscle man. Hojo lead the way.

Cloud gave up and stopped fighting. It turned out to be to his benefit since there was no guardrails on the spiral stairway that lead to the secret lab below. He didn't want to fall again.

****

Part Six:

"So, Sephiroth says that your name is Cloud." Hojo didn't believe in nicknames. He never referred to his specimen as 'Seph.'

Cloud was silent. He was strapped helplessly to an examination table. Cloud felt his heart pounding. He knew that he was about to become a lab specimen himself, and there was nothing that he could say or do about it.

"Vicks, bring him out." Hojo instructed an assistant.

Vicks disappeared briefly behind the bookcases that made the makeshift hallway. The muscle man stood guard at the door. There was no other way out.

Vicks led Seph out of his room. Seph didn't dare to fight back. He saw the muscle man guarding the door. So much for escaping.

The muscle man carefully examined him with his eyes. It made Seph very uncomfortable. He never saw this man before. Was he the new person that Jean mentioned? He looked like he belonged in a boot camp rather than a laboratory.

"Sephiroth, I would like you to meet Kaylin. He will be your trainer in the way of Shin-ra's most elite fighting force, SOLDIER." Hojo thought that he had explained enough.

"But I don't want to be in SOLDIER." Seph simply said.

"Sephiroth, if you don't train, then I will be forced to terminate you and your little friend here."

"I hate it when you call me that." Seph growled.

"Oh? So you want him to die then?" Hojo raised a syringe full of a clear liquid. Cloud's eyes widened with fear.

"No wait, please don't." Seph cried out. Vicks held him back.

Hojo chuckled. He knew that he was close to getting what he wanted. "Hmm? So are you going to train then?"

Tears streamed down Seph's face. He knew that Hojo would get whatever he wanted, no matter the price. Seph let out a huge sigh, then swallowed really hard. "I'll do it. I will train, now please let him go." Seph felt ashamed for giving in like that, but he had no choice.

Hojo smiled, he got Seph where he wanted him. However, he felt that he needed to do more to insure that Seph will stay loyal to him. Make an example.

"Well," Hojo was in a mocking pose to make a mockery out of thinking, or changing his mind. "I don't think that you will put your best effort into it."

"But…" Seph was at a lost at what to do.

"Seph don't, it's a trick!" Cloud shouted.

Seph looked to the ground. Hojo seemed to be an unstoppable foe.

"Professor, please stop it. Can't you see that they are both scared?" Jean finally came in for the rescue.

Hojo gave an 'I knew it' glance at her. Jean knew that she stepped out of line, but she had to no choice. She had to do what she felt was right.

"Oh? In that case, I will have to do what I have to do." Hojo turned to his newest victim.

"NO! You promised! Don't hurt him!" Seph tried to run towards Cloud, but Vicks was very able to restrain him.

"Professor stop! You can't do this!" Jean also tried to make her move, but Kaylin moved into action and seized her tightly. Jean screamed out of frustration.

Cloud wasn't aware of the needle, only a burning sensation that started to spread quickly through out his body.

Jean broke free from Kaylin's grip by a very strong kick in the shin. Hojo's arm was ripped away from what he was doing by Jean's frantic grip and then confiscated the syringe. It still had half of the liquid when Jean got to him, and she very quickly smashed it to the ground.

"You have just signed your own death wish Doctor Ashe." Hojo nodded over to Kaylin.

Jean suddenly jerked forward. She looked down in shock when she saw a light spray of red liquid on Hojo's labcoat and shirt. She was bleeding. There was a sudden pull and a small metallic object that she saw sticking out of her chest retract.

Jean's strength was draining rapidly but she forced herself to remain standing.

"Jean no!" Seph was screaming and kicking wildly. Vicks was having trouble in holding him back.

Jean was determined to have the last word and looked Hojo in the eye. The light seemed to become dimmer. With great effort, she took in a breath to say her last words.

"You bastard." Jean wheezed and then finally collapsed at Hojo's feet. She was forever gone.

"Jean! JEAN!" Seph screamed and bit Vicks to get free, and ran over to Jean's body.

Seph was crying uncontrollably, screaming why. Hojo turned away and stared into the face of his newest victim.

Cloud stopped moving, stopped crying, just staring out into nothing with half opened eyes. Hojo distracted himself from what he just did by running his hand through the blonde locks of hair on Cloud's head. He was also messing with the spiked ends with mild amusement. Then Hojo found himself growing attached to this kid. It was the same reason why he didn't want to kill Seph. He looked down at the broken syringe on the floor, Hojo wasn't sure how much poison he actually injected into Cloud, but he was pretty sure that it will not be enough to kill him, just make him extremely ill when he woke up.

Seph was lost in his pain, he had forgotten about his situation. Jean's skin still felt warm and soft, and he could still smell her perfume.

Kaylin had no regrets over what he had just done; he was just following orders. He casually walked back to the door and started to wipe the dagger that he used to kill Jean clean.

Hojo looked at Vicks. Vicks was still quiet due to the shock over what he had just witnessed. Just a few hours ago, he asked to speak with her before they left the lab. He was asking her out for a date. He refused to believe that she was really dead. He was praying that this was just one intense nightmare.

"Vicks, take Sephiroth back to his room. Kaylin help him." Hojo calmly said.

Vicks blinked, and sighed quietly. He was not waking up from this nightmare. Both of them approached Seph. Taking him to his room was very easy. Seph was too grief stricken to do anything or make another sound.

"Vicks, I would like you to also prepare Sephiroth for the final procedure." Hojo added before the three of them were out of sight. Vicks only nodded in response and let Kaylin escort Seph to his room.

Vicks quietly walked to a cabinet and unlocked the top cabinet. He then pulled down several vials and a syringe to create a cocktail of tranquilizers and experimental cells that were from an ancient biological source that was only code named Jenova.

"Vicks, I would like you to create a second dose for our little guest here." Hojo ordered.

Vicks didn't say anything, but only pulled out a second syringe and continued his work. Hojo then ordered Kaylin to dispose of Doctor Jean Ashe as soon as he returned, and also gave him a second order to follow government policy to inform the Turks so that they could do their job.

Vicks gave Hojo two syringes full of a caramel color liquid. Hojo gave Vicks his last order to tranquilize Seph before they got started. They had a lot of work to do.

****

Part Seven:

"I found him!" Joe yelled. The other searchers with in the Shin-ra Mansion started to move towards the master bedroom. Joe put his hand on Cloud's forehead. It was hot, his skin was pale and dry.

"Hang in there, were here." Joe was wondering on how Cloud managed to get into the bed. It looked like someone else tucked him in. He had no clue on how long he had been there. The biggest question that he had was when he checked in here about two hours ago, it looked like on one was here for quite some time. He was convinced that someone did this to him and he wanted to know who.

Cloud's mother was the first who entered the master bedroom. She was shocked at what she saw and gasped. Joe picked up the child and started to carry him out of the mansion. The other villagers were shocked when they saw Cloud. Keith hugged his mother and broke out crying he was sure that Cloud was dead. Jonas followed Joe on the way out.

"I'm sorry man. Please don't die." Jonas put his hand on Cloud's forehead and then pulled away in surprise when he found out how hot his skin was. Cloud was unresponsive.

"I think that a doctor stopped by earlier today and is staying at the inn." The innkeeper said and sent Jonas to summon him.

Joe started running with Cloud in his arms. He saw Jonas run out of the inn with a young man run behind him. They both met at the front door of Cloud's house. Cloud was like a rag doll.

"Doctor, please help. This child was out in the cold all night, and he needs medical attention." Joe pleaded.

The doctor checked Cloud's eye, but it was rolled back. "Is there anyplace where we can put him inside?" The doctor raised up his bag.

Joe nodded and Cloud's mother opened the door and several people entered into the house. Joe placed Cloud on the bed.

"Get some warm rags and get him into some clean clothes. I'm going to give him some antibiotics to prevent phenomia." The doctor announced.

"Thank you Doctor…" Cloud's mother wanted to know his name.

"Johnson. Robert Johnson." The doctor shook her hand.

"Gina, Gina Strife." Cloud's mother introduced herself.

"Mrs. Strife, I'm going to have to ask that everybody who does not need to be here to please leave." Johnson needed some space.

Everyone started to walk quietly towards that door, except for a red haired boy and a very young bernette little girl. Nobody bothered them.

"Do you want me to leave, Gina?" Joe asked.

"No, please stay. I could use someone to talk to." Gina pulled out some clean clothes out of the drawer.

Joe sighed. Their long search was over. It was almost 8:30 PM and he was tired. Then he noticed the two kids who stayed behind.

"Johnny, Tifa, Why are you still here?" Joe asked but had a feeling why.

"We want to help." Johnny announced.

"Yeah." Tifa said.

"I think we got everything taken care of, go home."

"No! I wanna help!" Tifa wanted to stay.

"Me too." Johnny wanted to help out his dad.

Joe knew that they will not take no for an answer. "Alright, Tifa get some clean rags, Johnny heat up some water."

Tifa and Johnny smiled. They could stay. Then they both set off to do their tasks.

Vicks closed the door behind him. He was alone in his room. He felt dirty and went to the sink. He let the cool water run through his hands while he lifted his head to look at himself in the mirror. He hated what he saw, he hated what he had done, and he hated who he had become. He felt like he sold his soul to Shin-ra many years ago. At first, he liked the job security and the money he got. He even had hopes and dreams to settle down and start a family. But he wasn't sure if he could do that now. Not after what he saw and did today. He knew that he would never be able to look at Seph in the eye again. He knew that Seph would never be the same either.

He splashed the water over his face and closed his eyes and then turned off the running water.

The shameful memories flashed through his mind, and burned the back of his eyes. Hojo was very kind to Cloud in his procedure. Hojo only erased Cloud's short-term memory, injected him with a small amount of Jenova cells to insure that the erasure took, and a mild Makou infusion to activate the alien cells. Hojo took great care to minimize the effects of the Makou therapy. He made sure that his eye color wasn't altered too much by the Makou treatment, otherwise it would have raised suspicion of outsiders. Vicks blinked and was brought back into reality. The only comforting thought he had about Cloud was the fact that Hojo sent an assistant into town with an antidote to the poison and a cover story of traveling to Cosmo Canyon to the south the continue his studies from that vast amounts of record stored there.

Vicks looked again into the mirror. He could hear the faint sounds of giggles from the deepest recess of his memory. It sounded like the sounds he heard on the way to the guest bedroom where he and Hojo found both Cloud and Seph. He even was able to see Hojo's face fume with anger as he watched them for a minute. Why did Hojo do that to Seph? The final procedure that Hojo refereed to was a chemical lobotomy. It destroyed Seph's playful and curious personality. Seph will eventually develop a new personality in a year or two, but until then, he'll be just an empty shell. No memories of his hopes and dreams, no fond memories of people he knew. Seph will forget about the games that he and Seph played, and about the time that Seph beat him in a game of poker and won 50 gil from him. Jean was amazed and giggled. He also got 20 gil from her.

Jean…

Vicks sniffed and fought back the tears. He walked back into his room and turned off the light in the bathroom. He sighed and looked to the ground. His mind was building its barriers to protect himself from the mental anguish that was inflicted on him.

He slipped his cold hands in the pockets of his labcoat. To his surprise, he found a letter in one of his pockets. It was a folded piece of notebook paper that had a purple tint dyed into the paper fibers. It was one of Jean's perks, and his name was written on one of the sides in dark purple ink. It was definitely from Jean.

Vicks sat on the bed. He was afraid to read the letter. He didn't want to remember what happened this morning. His hands were working independently of his mind as the letter was becoming unfolded. He closed his eyes, he didn't want to read it, but the flower perfume that was sprayed on the paper filled his sinuses. He too a deep breath and started to read the letter.

"Dear Chris,

"I really enjoyed the time we had tonight. I guess we were lucky that the new arrival was an hour late. Otherwise we wouldn't be able to visit the pub in Cosmo Canyon, and all of the time we spent in the observatory. The stars were like diamonds in the sky.

"Although we only had a short time together, I really had fun. Maybe next time we could have more homemade cocktails together.

"Someday, I would like to bring Seph there. He would go nuts in the observatory. Speaking of Seph, would you like to go with us to Gold Saucer? Seph and I conned Hojo in letting us go in the summer, and three's a crowd. Hojo insisted on coming, but he doesn't count, you do.

"I look forward to the next time that we could be together again.

"Hugs and kisses, Jean."

He carefully folded up the letter, and placed it back into his pocket. Everything seemed to be hopeless, and he felt helplessly trapped. He let his head rest, buried his face in his hands to think.

"The professor would like to see you." Kaylin said after knocking on Vicks' door and then opening it.

Vicks instantly didn't like Kaylin when they first met. Now he despised him and hated him because of what he had done. Vicks wanted to confront him so he started to walk with him down the hall.

"How could you do that?" Vicks started.

"Do what?" Kaylin didn't spend too much time dwelling on the past.

"Kill her. Don't you have any conscience?"

"My feelings are irrelevant. My question is, how could you do that?"

"I don't understand."

"Torture a kid like that. If you can answer that, then I'll give you an honest answer to your question." Kaylin walked on ahead leaving Vicks behind.

Kaylin had Vicks there. It made Vicks to start re-evaluating himself and his situation.

Vicks met Kaylin in the lab. Hojo was standing in the middle waiting for them. Seph was sitting in a chair. His back was facing them. He seemed to not care about what was going on. Vicks approach Seph.

"Hey Seph, how are you?" Vicks patted the child's head.

The white haired child looked up at him, but his strange green glowing eyes displayed no emotion.

"My name is Sephiroth, not Seph." He said in a monotone voice.

Hojo ignored this and proceeded with his announcement.

"I just received orders from Shin-ra Headquarters. We are evacuating tonight in light of current events. Kaylin and I will take Sephiroth to the Shin-ra Headquarters in Midgar. They have already cleared the 67th and 68th floor for our use. Doctor Vicks, I would like you the stay behind and coordinate the move form here to headquarters. The convoy trucks and the extra manpower will arrive in a half an hour. Please take this time to pack up your personal items now." Hojo stated this in a professional manner but gave him a threatening look as a warning to not betray him.

"Yes sir, I understand. See you in Midgar." Vicks had to hide his emotions in front of Hojo to insure his survival. He departed back into his room with out another word.

Hojo looked at Sephiroth in the face with a smile. "So are you ready to go?"

The child looked out into space, he didn't know that someone was talking to him. Hojo gently turned the child's face to him, but the child's eyes were fixed on an imaginary object, so he was not looking at Hojo at all.

"Look at me Sephiroth." Hojo gently said.

It took the child a moment to understand, and he finally looked at Hojo.

"Are you ready for a ride?"

"Yes sir." The child's voice was detached to his surroundings.

Hojo hugged him and whispered. "I'm sorry, but I had to do this. But it was for the best. I couldn't bear to kill you. Not my only child."

Hojo pulled away from his son. The poor child was severely disoriented from the medication he was given. His new personality will emerge soon.

"Come, everything is ready. Let's go." Hojo took Sephiroth's small hand and lead the child out of the only place he ever knew, as well as every reminder of the fond memories that he will never know again.

And just like that, the doorway to his past was forever closed, and they all departed for a new life in Midgar.

"Mom." Cloud weakly called.

"Oh, good, you're awake." She placed her hand on his forehead. "Hmm, your fever broke. How are you feeling?"

"I'm thirsty." He quietly said.

"Okay, hang tight. I'll be right back." She hurried to get some water.

She quickly returned, only to find that Cloud fell back to sleep. She sighed and returned to the dinner table.

"Fell asleep again huh?" Mrs. Lockheart asked.

"Yes. Well, I would like to thank you for staying here to keep me company, Teri." Gina sipped her coffee.

"No problem. It's the least I could do since Cloud helps me out so much." Teri shrugged.

Gina sighed, Teri took another sip.

"Do you have any idea what happened to him?"

Gina shook her head. "No, but I asked Joe to investigate."

There was a knock at the door.

"Speak of the devil. I'll get it." Teri got up to answer the door.

Teri met Joe at the door and invited him in.

"What did you find?" Gina asked.

"Well, you won't like it, but I think that there's a lot more involved than we think." Joe shook his head.

Teri and Gina waited.

"I looked all over the mansion and found something unusual. I kept what you told me about what Cloud managed to tell you in mind, and I started in the master bedroom." Joe paused to gather his thoughts. "One of the bullets that Devin shot at Cloud hit the stone column in the corner of the room, but I can tell you that it wasn't made out of rock, and the hole looks like it was hastily repaired with cement. When I found it, the cement was still wet.

Gina handed Joe a cup of coffee.

"Thanks. Anyway, I found that the whole entire column was hollow, and I found a muddy foot print that lead to a particular section of the column."

"Are you saying that there is a secret passage there?" Teri asked.

"Yes, and Cloud happened to stumble across it."

"Cloud said that it was a government conspiracy." Gina added.

"I think it was. I also think that the visiting doctor wasn't here out of coincidence. I asked a friend to look up his name in the records. There was a Doctor Robert Johnson, but he died three years ago."

"Oh god, if we knew what Cloud knew, then we are in serious danger here." Teri concluded.

Gina looked out the window. Three strange people just arrived and were entering the local inn.

"They look like Turks. What do we do?" Gina was fearful.

"If they think we know nothing or suspect nothing, then they will leave us alone." Joe reasoned. "But that means we can't say anything to anyone else either."

"Are you saying that we let them win?" Teri asked, she was getting angry.

"Then we need to think of a cover story for our protection." Gina stated.

"Yes, but what?" Teri hated this situation all together.

"Simple, we'll say that he spent the night in the Shin-ra mansion, got scared, hid somewhere and fell asleep, and he got sick from the cold." Joe hinted that he had something in mind.

"I can contact my brother. He's a member of a small rebellion group but he is also a doctor. I'll ask for his help and to bring his friends. They will protect you." Joe was sure of this.

"How soon can they get here?" Gina asked.

"In about an hour. I contacted them yesterday when you told me what happened that morning. They will be staying at my house. Until then, can Johnny stay here while they are here for his own safety?"

"Sure, no problem." Gina nodded.

"Hmm, you seem to take this very seriously. Are you a member of this group?" Teri was curious.

Joe smiled. "Don't worry. Just pretend that nothing happened other than what we just discussed, okay?"

Both women nodded.

"Good, I have to go now, but before I go, I would ask you to please do not say another word about this. They could easily bug your houses, okay?"

"Yes, we will. We look forward to seeing Johnny." Gina changed the subject.

"Good. As soon as my brother gets here, I'll send him here to help take care of Cloud. I just hope that Cloud will be able to tell us what really happened." Joe walked to the door.

"Okay, take care of yourself then." Teri meant it.

"I will. Until then, good night." Joe departed into the night.

Cloud did make a full recovery, and thanks to Joe's help, no future disasters occurred. However, Cloud was not able to remember anything that happened at all that day, not even what happened that afternoon before he left the house to get supplies for his mother.

Both Cloud and Sephiroth grew up separate lives. Ironically, Cloud left Nibleheim to work for Shin-ra in hopes to join SOLDIER. Sephiroth became the highest-ranking member in SOLDIER and eventually Cloud served under Sephiroth. By then, they were total strangers and a new relationship was formed, that in the end also had a tragic result. Only one was able to correct the disaster before it destroyed everyone they knew and the planet as well.

Author's note:

I tried my best to keep that characters consistent into the real game of Final Fantasy 7. Sadly, the character of Joe is the only character who doesn't fit…just explore the Sector seven slums in Midgar at the start of the game and you can find out why…. But oh, well…. I think that is was a very good story. And it hinted about Sephiroth…when he found out as an adult what happened, he went mad…. Could this scenario happen then? If Cloud had any knowledge, could he have save him? We will never know.

FF7Aeris =^_^= FF7Aeris_98@Yahoo.com or at FF7Aeris_98@Hotmail.com

My website: www.geocities.com/tokyo/shrine/2026


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